Historic Investment On Dar Ports

By Rodgers Luhwago

IF one were to take stock on the level of financial investment poured on the country's ports since

independence, he would conclusively find that President John Magufuli's first phase of administration has done an outstanding job.

One of the areas that the fifth phase government deserves compliments is the investment made on upgrading, expanding and constructing new ports in major water bodies across the country, says TPA Director General, Engineer Deusdedit Kakoko.

It is the phase in which Tanzanians have witnessed massive financial investments on all major ports in the country from the principal port of Dar es Salaam to Mtwara and Tanga, including reviving some terminals in Lake Victoria that had ceased operations over 20 years ago.

When delivering his speech during the International Workers' Day on May 1st, 2019 in Mbeya region, President Magufuli informed the public that the expansion of Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Tanga ports would cost a whopping 2.2 tri/-.

According to President Magufuli, the expansion of the Dar es Salaam port alone would cost 1tri/-, while that of Tanga and Mtwara ports would cost 1.2 tri/-.

The major purpose of investing in the expansion, upgrading and constructing new ports is to exploit to the maximum the advantage brought about by the country's geographical position, considering the fact that Tanzania is endowed with abundant natural resources, including water bodies.

According to Engineer Kakoko, the TPA targets to transport 25 million tonnes of cargo by 2025. This will mean that Tanzania's ports will be handling 50 per cent of cargo that's destined for member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Currently, the country's ports account for 25 per cent of all goods imported to the 16-member SADC bloc.