BAK
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- Feb 11, 2007
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Frustration at JNIA as night time arrivals queue for hours to buy cash
One of the Guardian Limited’s reporters who had travelled abroad and witnessed the chaos said after arriving at the country’s main airport at close to midnight from Addis Ababa aboard Ethiopian Airlines, she witnessed long queues of people seeking to buy the local currency from the TPB’s single currency trader.
“It was a desperate situation with many complaining against the decision to close down currency trading shops at JNIA without providing an alternative,” said the journalist who pointed out that many foreign arrivals wanted the local currency to pay for their transport.
Before Bank of Tanzania’s crackdown against bureau de changes operating in Dar es Salaam and Arusha between December last year and February this year, there were four currency trading shops at JNIA which operated overnight.
The crackdown has seen TPB and NMB Bank Plc open shops which however are insufficient with the latter operating only during normal working hours between 7am and 6pm daily. “We need more currency trading shops at JNIA which should also be operating for 24 hours like the TPB shop,” said a taxi driver at JNIA, Juma Mhina.
Mhina said lack of enough currency trading shops is slowly giving room to black market operators who will prey on the foreigners hence tarnishing the country’s image. “For example, I don’t see the reason why NMB’s shop is close at night when there are planes touching down at between 10pm and midnight every day,” Mhina argued.
Speaking in Dodoma earlier this week, Finance Minister, Dr Philip Mpango and Bank of Tanzania Governor, Professor Florens Luoga said the government has no plans to ban bureau de changes but wants to simply restore sanity in the business.
“We will soon come up with regulations to curb illegal activities taking place in bureau de changes as established by the recent Bank of Tanzania inspections in Arusha and Dar es Salaam,” Dr Mpango told journalists.
He said many bureau de changes were involved in money laundering, capita flight and other illegal activities because of poor regulatory oversight but also weaknesses in the law.
BoT Governor, Prof Luoga gave an example of the exercise in Dar es Salaam which found out that out of the 87 licensed currency trading shops, only five operated within the confines of the law. “The situation was bad and as regulators we had to intervene,” said Prof Luoga who took over as Central Bank chief last but whose administration is already being credited with restoring sanity in the country’s banking industry.
One of the Guardian Limited’s reporters who had travelled abroad and witnessed the chaos said after arriving at the country’s main airport at close to midnight from Addis Ababa aboard Ethiopian Airlines, she witnessed long queues of people seeking to buy the local currency from the TPB’s single currency trader.
“It was a desperate situation with many complaining against the decision to close down currency trading shops at JNIA without providing an alternative,” said the journalist who pointed out that many foreign arrivals wanted the local currency to pay for their transport.
Before Bank of Tanzania’s crackdown against bureau de changes operating in Dar es Salaam and Arusha between December last year and February this year, there were four currency trading shops at JNIA which operated overnight.
The crackdown has seen TPB and NMB Bank Plc open shops which however are insufficient with the latter operating only during normal working hours between 7am and 6pm daily. “We need more currency trading shops at JNIA which should also be operating for 24 hours like the TPB shop,” said a taxi driver at JNIA, Juma Mhina.
Mhina said lack of enough currency trading shops is slowly giving room to black market operators who will prey on the foreigners hence tarnishing the country’s image. “For example, I don’t see the reason why NMB’s shop is close at night when there are planes touching down at between 10pm and midnight every day,” Mhina argued.
Speaking in Dodoma earlier this week, Finance Minister, Dr Philip Mpango and Bank of Tanzania Governor, Professor Florens Luoga said the government has no plans to ban bureau de changes but wants to simply restore sanity in the business.
“We will soon come up with regulations to curb illegal activities taking place in bureau de changes as established by the recent Bank of Tanzania inspections in Arusha and Dar es Salaam,” Dr Mpango told journalists.
He said many bureau de changes were involved in money laundering, capita flight and other illegal activities because of poor regulatory oversight but also weaknesses in the law.
BoT Governor, Prof Luoga gave an example of the exercise in Dar es Salaam which found out that out of the 87 licensed currency trading shops, only five operated within the confines of the law. “The situation was bad and as regulators we had to intervene,” said Prof Luoga who took over as Central Bank chief last but whose administration is already being credited with restoring sanity in the country’s banking industry.
