Classy Kigamboni Bridge opened

ROSE ATHUMANI

PRESIDENT John Magufuli unveils a plaque to officially launch the 480-metre long multi-billion shilling Kigamboni Bridge in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. (Photo by Mohamed Mambo)

PRESIDENT John Magufuli unveils a plaque to officially launch the 480-metre long multi-billion shilling Kigamboni Bridge in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday. (Photo by Mohamed Mambo)

PRESIDENT John Pombe Magufuli officially launched the Kigamboni Bridge on Tuesday, proposing it to be named Nyerere Bridge while saying the bridge will open trade and investment opportunities and boost economic growth in the country.

The bridge is the longest in East Africa while Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Nyerere is the founding Father of the Tanzanian Nation. In his speech at the launching ceremony in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, President Magufuli noted that Mwalimu Nyerere worked tirelessly to unite Tanzanians who are now speaking one language despite their differences in religion, tribes and political affiliation.

“They had proposed that this bridge should be named after me since there are other bridges named after former presidents Benjamin Mkapa and Jakaya Kikwete, but I said no,’’ the president told his audience.

I have just been fulfilling my responsibility as a public servant. I should not be merited. Calling it Nyerere Bridge will be an important gift to me,” he pointed out. “This bridge will be a good reminder and honour to our founding father’s efforts to unite Tanzanians despite their differences in tribe, religion and political party affiliation, such that we all speak one language.”

President Magufuli commended local experts who participated in the construction of the Bridge including NSSF, Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROAD) and the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications.

He specifically commended the China Railway Construction Engineering Group (CRCEG), who contracted the bridge in a joint venture with the China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group (CRMBEG) as well as Arab Consultant from Egypt.

“You have done a wonderful job and on behalf of the government, we will continue collaborating in other projects, including completing the remaining 1.5kmroad on the Kigamboni side,” President Magufuli commented in praise of the project’s handlers.

He said plans to build the Kigamboni Bridge started way back in the colonial era in the 1930s when the country was a British territory. However, due to financial limitations, the plan could not materialise.

“Founding Father Mwalimu Nyerere also planned to construct the Bridge in the 1970s and that’s when the first feasibility study was conducted. But due to same reasons of funds, the project was shelved. So you can see that there were efforts to build this bridge in all previous governments,” he explained.

He said the Kigamboni Bridge, which is of its kind in East and Central Africa, will open up trade and bring economic change both at individual and national levels.

The president said now that the bridge was operational, it will contribute to the socioeconomic development of Kigamboni District and Dar es Salaam City and Region in general by making the area attractive to investors.

“There will be a lot of economic activities, major and minor, that will use the bridge. Tourists and local people will also use it as a tourist attraction.

We will also get revenue from those who will want to turn the Bridge into a place to take wedding photos and most so at night. You can also see that our neighbour has hijacked pictures of the Kigamboni Bridge saying it is in the country,” he noted as the crowd that turned up to witness the launching cheered.

President Magufuli added that the project was conducted under the Public Private Partnership between government, which contributed 40 per cent while the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributed 60 per cent.

He said that the contribution by NSSF must be recovered through toll fees that will be charged to the users, calling on the social security fund to speed up the process of calculating the toll charges so that they can start being operational.

He classified those who will pay the toll fee when passing through the cable-suspended bridge to include all types of vehicles, motorcycles, ‘bajaji’, pushcarts and bicycles. Pedestrians will be allowed to pass free of charge.

He called on the public and security organs to ensure the infrastructure is not destroyed, stressing that anyone who will even scratch any part of it, should be taken to task, including severe measures taken against them.

The president cautioned the public against turning the bridge into a market place, stressing there should not be any business activities conducted on it. “This bridge has a life span of more than 100 years; we must cultivate a culture of taking good care of our own infrastructures.

We all want development, so we must sweat hard for it,” he stressed. He noted that on the Kigamboni side, the bridge will connect to an approach road of about 1.5 km that will intersect with the Kigamboni Ferry-Kibada Road.

Earlier, shortly after he was invited to speak, President Magufuli took the opportunity to invite former NSSF Director General Ramadhani Dau to greet the public and honoured his contribution towards construction of the Kigamboni Bridge.

Deputy Minister of Works, Transport and Communication, Engineer Edwin Ngonyani, who represented his minister, said the Kigamboni Bridge is part of many other projects underway across the country, some of which started operating during the 4th phase regime.

He said President Magufuli has increased budget allocation to 40 per cent of the national budget to the projects underway across the country, noting the important move to bring accelerated development to Tanzania.