TANZANIA yesterday
sealed a contract for construction of the longest bridge on lake waters
in East Africa to facilitate transport and trade with neighbouring
countries.
The signing comes
hardly four days after President John Magufuli launched a landmark
Rufiji hydropower project. The 3.2-kilometre bridge on Lake Victoria
will connect Kigongo and Busisi areas in Mwanza region.
The signing of the
593bn/- deal is another milestone in the country's efforts to revamp
transport infrastructure few days after the launch of the mega
hydropower project in Rufiji river-Stiegler's Gorge power project.
The government
inked the contract with two Chinese contractors-the China Civil
Engineering Construction Group (CCECG) and China Railway 15th Bureau
Group Co Ltd-for execution of the Kigongo-Busisi bridge.
At the signing
ceremony in Dar es Salaam, Works, Transport and Communications Minister
Engineer Isack Kamwelwe said the bridge will link Tanzania with
neighbouring Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, accelerating trade and boosting
the regional economy.
Currently, people
use ferries to cross between Kigongo and Busisi, which is the main route
to Mwanza from neighbouring regions of Kagera and Geita.
It is expected that
since Mwanza city is the commercial hub in the Lake zone, construction
of the bridge will enhance movement of people and goods to and from
Mwanza.
"It will reduce
transport time and facilitate trade among the East African countries,"
the minister assured, saying currently, vehicles spend up to three hours
to cross to either side of the Lake by using ferry.
The vehicles spend about two hours in queue to get on the ferry and about 45 minutes to reach the other side.
Engineer Kamwelwe
said construction of the bridge will be fully funded by the government
and during construction, over 1000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect jobs
will be created.
Shedding light on
technical part of the bridge, Chief Executive Officer of the Tanzania
National Roads Agency (TANROADS) Engineer Patrick Mfugale said the
bridge will be connected to a 34-kilometre road, with 28.4 metres wide
from Mwanza.
The 180-tonne capacity bridge will allow 1600 vehicles to pass at a time.
Hinting on the
historic background of the project, Eng Mfugale said the Kigongo- Busisi
bridge plan dates back to 1977, but for all those years donors refused
to finance its construction. Geita Regional Commissioner Robert Gabriel
said construction of the bridge was a dream of the father of the nation,
the late Julius Nyerere.
"For us, this is an
economic savior, it's going to connect us with Mwanza," said Engineer
Gabriel. Mwanza Regional Commissioner John Mongela was grateful that
Mwanza is now going to open up its potentials as the commercial hub in
the East African region.
Speaking on behalf
of the legislators from Mwanza region, Misungwi MP Charles Kitwanga said
they have been only seeing the project in papers for many years, but
now things have become a reality.
He further said the
bridge will offer opportunities to Tanzania and neighbouring countries
for cargo could be transported from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and to
neighbouring regions and countries.
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