TPDF to Have 12,000 New Military Houses

 

President Uhuru Kenyatta greets National Youth Service recruits after a parade at the NYS college in Gilil on September 10, 2014. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH |  NATION MEDIA GROUP

By Abduel Elinaza
Shanghai in China — TANZANIA has signed an agreement with China which will see the Asian nation providing a 550 million US dollar (over 900bn/-) concessional loan for construction of Tanzania Peoples' Defence Forces (TPDF) houses across the country.

The loan and construction to be carried out in two phases, will see more than 12,000 housing units built in various towns and cities, with the first 6,600 units costing 300 million US dollars (about 500bn/-) expected to be handed over at the end of 2016.
The Shanghai Construction Group won the tender and signed a memorandum of understanding for the second phase of the project at 250 million US dollars. SCG, International Department, Deputy General Manager, Xun Xiaohui, said the housing project follows a concessional loan from Exim Bank of China.
"The project covers (about) 40 towns and cities in Tanzania," Mr Xun told the 'Daily News' in Shanghai at the weekend. Some units will be in Arusha and Dar es Salaam.
He said that despite the fact that some of the houses will be built in remote and geographically challenging areas the group vowed to finish the job in time.
"The biggest challenge involves transporting construction material and equipment to the sites. We will also face setbacks by torrential rains that are likely to be falling in some areas from time to time," Mr Xun said.
The Group, which basically built all the Shanghai buildings and other infrastructure, said this will be their first project in Tanzania. "But Tanzania is an important market to us," said Mr Xun.
The MoU signed recently between the SGC and the Ministry of Defence and National Service will add more modern houses to military property.
The first phase will provide a total of 6,600 units and the second one will have almost a similar number. According to SCG each phase is expected to take 50 months from start to finish of construction work.
Mr Xun also said that his company is also looking for contracts in projects involving energy, infrastructure (airports and seaports), railways and bridges in Tanzania.
"We are ready to enter into PPP (public, private partnership) or BOT (build own and transfer) arrangements, apart from direct construction," Mr Xun said.
SCG is the sixth biggest construction company in China and is eleventh worldwide. Last year the company had 200 projects in 40 countries and regions in the world all valued at 10 billion US dollars.
The majority of these projects are in Africa, Asia and South America, the three biggest markets. Globally, projects in Africa are the highest. In Shanghai, SCG is currently finishing China's tallest building at 610 metres.
In 2002, the group also constructed the Shanghai Maglev train and track. The train is the fastest commercial train in the world at a speed of 430 kilometres per hour. The train covers a distance of 30 kilometres in eight minutes.