Megacity foreseen as Dar expands

SYLIVESTER DOMASA

Dar es Salaam

THE government will spend 655bn/- (about 300 million US dollars) this year in a ‘clean-up’ exercise focusing to transform Dar es Salaam into a future megacity that meets the urgent infrastructure demands for basic services, urban mobility and flood control.

The plan is part of the Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP) that aims to improve urban service and institutional capacity in the metropolitan, strategically to accommodate demands for a country’s commercial capital.

Minister of State (President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Governments) Mr George Simbachawene said this on Thursday exclusively during ‘Tumetekeleza,’ a live telecast aired on the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC).

“Dar es Salaam is growing very fast. The population is alarming. However, the government resolved to implement DMDP to address, among others, the increasing population in the city,” Mr Simbachawene said.

With projections of economic growth expected to remain relatively stable at 7 per cent, it is estimated that the population in the city will clock 10 million in 2020 up from 4.4 million in 2012.

This, according to the minister, needs wide-ranging approaches to accommodate the transformations. “Dar es Salaam-Dodoma state migration is a potential opportunity to the advancements,” he said, noting: “the process will give breathing space for mega transformation of the city to fully takeover as the country’s commercial capital.”

The minister said, the state is also embarking on two other major projects: Urban Development Sector Project (UDSP) and TSP to foster economic growth in upcountry regions. UDSP, according to the minister, targets at opening up more road networks in 18 town councils and the TSP will focus on strategic towns such as Mtwara, Kigoma, Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza and Mbeya.

Mr Simbachawene announced, however, that implementation of the second Dar es Salaam Rapid Transport (DART) project was getting underway. “As part of the mega transformation we’re also moving to put up more fly-overs to ease traffic congestion.”

Speaking on revenue collections, the minister said the government has directed all councils to instal transparent systems that will enable accountability of revenue collected from the internal sources.

He banned private firms from collecting revenues on behalf of the councils especially where the council has capacity to collect the revenues. Citing city parking fees, the minister revealed that while the private agent paid the Dar es Salaam City Council merely 106m/- a month—now the council generates over 600mil/-, thank to the electronic fiscal devices.

“This can also be used in regional hospitals. Most metropolitan cities cover operational costs generated from city parking fees. We can do it but we need more patriotic leaders,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister challenged all ward councils to ensure the review of financial statement of each and every village/street in their respective council to allow a practical governance of public funds and value for money.