- Magufuli cherishes realisation of his campaign pledge
PRESIDENT John Magufuli has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a flyover at the intersection of the Nelson Mandela Expressway and Nyerere Road in Dar es Salaam - to kick off the government’s massive infrastructure improvement drive in the commercial capital.
Upon completion of the project in two
year's time, the usual 45-minute plus trip from the Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA) to the city centre would be cut down to 15
minutes.
Speaking at the project’s launching
ceremony yesterday, President Magufuli said that the construction of the
first flyover in the country is one of the many massive projects that
are ongoing and about to take off that are aimed at decongesting the
city of Dar es Salaam.
“Last year during the campaign trail,
many didn’t believe me when I said that a flyover would be built here.
As they say, a promise is a debt. Well, I am repaying that debt with the
laying of this foundation stone,” he said.
Whilst thanking the government of Japan
for the grant of 93.438bn/-, which he reminded the public was taxpayers’
money, he said that if more Tanzanians saw the importance of paying
taxes and then there will be more development projects.
President Magufuli, highlighting more on
the bigger picture of decongesting Dar es Salaam and investment in
infrastructure, said that the government had set aside 1 trilion/- in
this year’s budget where the construction of a railway of standard gauge
from Dar es Salaam to the central corridor will start.“We want to see
that by the time development partners come in for the project,
construction will have already begun.
If the construction goes at least as far
as Ruvu, we plan to build an establishment that will enable lorries to
pick up cargo from Ruvu instead of coming into Dar es Salaam,” he
pointed out. He spoke about plans to put CCTV cameras aboard the trains
transporting the cargo to Ruvu from the port to facilitate their
tracking until their final destination.
Other projects that are in the pipeline
include a 6-kilometre flyover from Coco Beach, across the Indian Ocean
to the Aga Khan Hospital in Upanga East and a two-storey interchange
flyover funded by the World Bank.
Dr Magufuli echoed the sentiments of the
Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, on the delay of the start of the
Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit (DART) project that the delay was in the
interest of the public after the government discovered ‘certain
irregularities’ in fixing the fare.
“The government took a loan of 388bn/-
from the World Bank for the project to benefit the public and not
individuals. We smelled something fishy and have worked on it. There is
no way that fare for the BRT can be higher than that of the
‘daladala’,’’ he quipped, promising that the project will start soon.
Tanzania National Roads Agency Chief
Executive, Engineer Patrick Mfugale, said that the flyover, which will
have four lanes, will reduce 80 per cent of the time spent to travel
from the airport to the city centre.
Eng Mfugale said that the construction
of the flyover is expected to take 35 months and will include the
construction of a 425metrebridge. The Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) Representative, Mr Toshio Nagase, said that traffic
congestion in Dar es Salaam is recognised as a severe problem in
Tanzania and that according to estimates of the National Bureau of
Statistics, a total of 411.55bn/- was lost in the year 2013 alone due to
the congestion. Mr Nagase said that as the first flyover in this
country, the Tazara Flyover will become a long-lasting symbol in opening
a new era of Tanzania-Japan partnership.
“It will contribute to a better life of
the citizens of Dar es Salaam and for the economic growth of not only
Tanzania but of neighbouring landlocked countries that are connected
with Central Corridor and the Dar es Salaam Corridor,” he observed.
The contract for construction between
TANROADS and Sumitomo Mitsui Construction Co. Ltd (the contractor) was
signed on October 15, 2015 witnessed by Dr Magufuli; Minister for Works
at that time.
The construction is expected to be
completed in October, 2018. The government of Japan, through JICA, has
more than a 35-year-history of supporting the improvement of transport
infrastructure in Dar es Salaam, starting from the construction of
Selander Bridge in 1980.
For instance, in 2008, JICA supported
the formulation of Dar es Salaam Urban Transport Master Plan. Since
then, tremendous efforts have been made by Tanzania to ease traffic
congestion in the city, including the flyovers, BRT and major road
widening projects
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