THE World Bank has committed 500 million US dollars equivalent to 1.2 trillion/- to support Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme being executed under the East African Community, an official report from the EAC Secretariat in Arusha has revealed.
Lake Tanganyika is the world’s deepest
Lake shared by Tanzania, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
and the water body is among the locations listed in the proposed new
World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
On Tuesday, the EAC Secretary General,
Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, and the Chair of the EAC Council of
Ministers and Uganda’s Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East
African Affairs, Mr Kirunda Kivejinja, the Executive Secretary of
Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency, Captain
Dieudonne Dukundane, and the Executive Director of Lake Tanganyika
Authority, Engineer Nibirantije Jean-Marie addressed the Media to that
effect.
Ambassador Mfumukeko said he was
delighted at the take-off of the Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme
saying the programme would yield tangible benefits for ordinary East
Africans.
“Lake Tanganyika is uniquely placed to
provide intermodal linkag es between Tripartite Regional Economic blocks
of EAC, COMESA and SADC and therefore a critical conduit not only for
transport needs but also for wider economic benefits,” said the
Secretary General.
He said, while the World Bank had
committed about 500 million US dollars to support the Lake Tanganyika
Transport Programme, there is the need for more support from other
Development Partners by way of project uptakes, co-financing and
blending.
The Secretary General said that
investment in infrastructural projects continues to receive the utmost
political attention by the EAC Heads of States as expressed during their
biennial retreats on infrastructure development and financing.
He said successful implementation of the
Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme was expected to result into
numerous benefits for the riparian states and the communities around the
Lake.
On his part, the EAC Council of
Ministers Chairperson, Rt Hon Kivejinja, thanked the World Bank for
supporting the Integrated Corridor Development initiative in EAC through
the Intermodal Strategy.
He assured East Africans that the
Community was fully committed to putting in place an integrated
transport system with the Lake Tanganyika Transport Programme as part of
the system.
The Executive Secretary of the Central
Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency, Captain Dieudonne
Dukundane, emphasized the importance of Lake Tanganyika in providing
intermodal linkages between the EAC, COMESA and SADC. Captain Dukundane
said Lake Tanganyika was critical for promoting movement of people and
goods within the East African region.
No comments :
Post a Comment