Empire Voice: Infrastructure

Showing posts with label Infrastructure. Show all posts

By ADAM IHUCHA --There is a proposed airport in western Tanzania that has divided the country.

While the airfield has not yet been built, it nonetheless exists, either as a great opportunity or an apocalyptic threat.

If constructed, the new airfield, located in Mugumu vicinity, 40 km northwestern Serengeti, a Tanzania’s flagship national park, would be facilitating direct landing of larger aircraft near the park to offer holidaymakers hassle-free trips.

The sprawling Serengeti is famous for its spectacular annual migration of over 1.5 million white bearded wildebeest and 250,000 zebra, and for its numerous Nile crocodile.

But the proposed $350 million ultra-modern airport to be financed by an American billionaire with multi-million-dollar investments in western Serengeti, Mr Paul Tudor Jones, is not absolutely without controversy.

Mr Tudor, a prominent Wall Street tycoon, runs a $16 million five-star lodge at Sasakwa Hill and the three wildlife rich hunting blocs of Grumeti, Ikorongo and Ikoma, covering nearly 110,000 hectares in western Serengeti.

Whereas National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) approved the plan, the state says the airdrome, would forever change the greatest wildlife migration on earth.

Late October, 2014, NEMC granted the Serengeti district an Environmental Impact Assessment Certificate (EIAC) apparently after being satisfied that the construction of the airfield would not compromise the environment.

In his reaction, Natural Resources and Tourism minister Lazaro Nyalandu, apparently in his after thought, vowed that no plane would, under his watch, be allowed to fly over Serengeti national park, the UNESCO World Heritage site.

“They can build the airport, but we are not going to let the planes fly over Serengeti national park because their noises during landing and takeoff will interrupt the wildlife serenity,” Mr Nyalandu says.

He argued that wild animals were sensitive creatures, which, if disturbed, would move away from Serengeti without notice. And when that happens, the lifelong conservation efforts would be worthless.

“Conservation outweighs other interests because even the investments and tourists are drawn by flora and fauna available in Serengeti, otherwise no one would be interested,” Mr Nyalandu argued.

Singita Grumeti Reserve, Managing Director and representative of mogul Tudor, Mr Graham Ledger, says the air access to northern Serengeti region will be a direct benefit to tourism and community development in the area.

“Singita is aware that the EI has been granted for Mugumu Airport. This represents a step forward in the development of air access to the northern Serengeti region and will be a direct benefit to tourism and community development in the area” Mr. Ledger says in a statement.

Serengeti District executive director Goody Pamba said the construction phase would commence in a month’s period, as experts were putting final touches on the long overdue project.

“The project design is in final touches and hopefully after a month the construction works will take off,” she said.

She hopes that the airport will stimulate economy as the facility is expected to open up more investment prospects in areas of tourism, hence help to create a number of opportunities in Mugumu town, Serengeti district and the Mara region as a whole.

Serengeti Member of Parliament, who is also a deputy minister for health and social welfare, Dr. Stephen Kebwe achoed Ms Pamba’s sentiments, saying he was pushing the construction to start as soon as possible.

“I can assure you that the foundation stone for the airport project would be laid soon,” Dr. Kebwe explained.

Aviation analysts say that the airport, if erected will pose serious competition to other major airports, namely Kilimanjaro international airport, Arusha and Mwanza airfields, which currently are handling traffic en-route to Serengeti national park.

Indeed, the Serengeti airport would make life easier for tourists, who currently travel 300 kilometers by road from KIA to the famous game sanctuary.

“I am of the opinion that we better upgrading Mwanza airport at the desirable international standards to handle the high-end tourists who want to sample Serengeti attraction rather than to build close to the park” says Tanzania Association of Tour Operators Chief Executive Officer, Sirili Akko.

According to him the airport will attract unnecessary human activities near the already overwhelmed fragile Serengeti-Mara ecosystem.

Opponents of the project say the landing and takeoff of large planes in Mugumu, which borders one of the park’s most congested areas, both in terms of humans and wildlife, could in the long run damage wildlife migration patterns.

This area is critical to the wildebeest’s annual migration between Tanzania and Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve.

Nine years ago, conservationists, in collaboration with Serengeti National Park officials, drew up a 10-year comprehensive general management plan (GMP) for Serengeti.

The plan prohibits expansion of human settlement and development in the wider ecosystem of Serengeti-Mara. It notes the extreme impact in the northwest border of the legendary Serengeti, which was densely settled by a population of 3,329,199 in 2011.

The population increase has been fuelling poaching, with Director General of Tanzania National Parks Allan Kijazi putting at between 200 and 300 the number of wildebeest killed annually in western Serengeti.

A UNEP and World Conservation Monitoring Centre report puts the total number of animals killed annually in Serengeti at as high as 200,000.

The Serengeti Watch organisation says a facility like the airport will require machinery, road infrastructure, jet fuel, and a steady stream of equipment, spares, and supplies to support it.

In its “Stop Serengeti International Airport” online campaign, the organisation says jumbo jets landing near the park would change the Serengeti “beyond recognition.”

By ADAM IHUCHA -- The East African community is finalizing designs for a key multinational highway as it seeks to link Kenya’s eastern with Tanzania’s northeastern coastlines.

An ambitious road runs from Malindi - Mombasa –Lunga Lunga in the Kenyan side to Tanga-Pangani-Saadani-Bagamoyo in the Tanzanian part.

Idea behind the road is to stimulate a regional trade link between the Port of Mombasa in Kenya and all northeast Tanzania and beyond.

The EAC’s Principal Civil Engineer, Hosea Nyangweso says a 460-km highway to cost $600 million, is a critical hub to unlock the potential of tourism trade and maritime shipping in both coastlines.

“Designs for transnational road runs from Kenya’s eastern coast to Tanzania’s northeastern seashore are in the final touches to pave way for funds mobilization” Mr Nyangweso says.

According to him, the African Development Bank (AfDB) had basically agreed to bankroll the crucial highway and from early next year, would allocate some funds, for the project.

If all goes well, Nyangweso says, the construction phase, which takes three years period, would kick off early 2016.

Detailed designs show that the 178km-long Tanga-Pangani-Bagamoyo road is to be realigned to avoid crossing in the middle of Sadaani National Park as it was earlier envisioned.

Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Works, Greyson Lwenge, says the road will skip Saadani Park in a bid to protect the ecosystem.

“This will be a solid development model that gives maximum support to the economic growth of the regional without endangering the million of animals in the world-renowned Saadani national park” he noted.

Saadani National Park where the beach meets the bush is the only wildlife sanctuary in East Africa with ocean frontage and therefore the only place that can genuinely lay claim to offering beautiful beaches and safari in a single location.

Mr. Lwenge says that the highway is currently undergoing a feasibility study by Aureco Company from South Africa in partnership with the EAC.

Importance

The road is expected to boost regional integration, cross border trade, tourism, and socio-economic development, as it will open up investment opportunities.

It will also improve the essential road transport infrastructure between Kenya and Tanzania coastlines, particularly between Mombasa and Bagamoyo.

More crucially, it is anticipated to ease cargo movement from both Mombasa and Tanga ports to the landlocked countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.

Precisely, the road is expected to stimulate tourism trade since it will improve connectivity between the two must-experience-beaches of Mombasa and Tanga.

Chief Executive Officer for Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO), Sirili Akko welcomed the project, saying the road offer holidaymakers a hassle-free trip to the both coastlines.

“In a long run, this coastline running from Mombasa-Tanga- Dar Es - Salaam, will become a single tourism destination where tour operators would be promoting as a East African beach” Mr Akko explained.

Tanga on the Tanzanian northern coast close to the Kenyan border has a fascinating history as one of the oldest settlements along the East African coast.

The word “Tanga” means “sail” in the Kiswahili language, an indication that the protected Tanga bay has over many centuries offered a safe haven for local fishers and the thriving Indian Ocean trade along the East African coast.

Another translation of “Tanga” refers to the Bondei word “farm”. In 1631, people from the area joined the Mazrui dynasty of Mombasa in their fight against Portuguese rule and remained under their influence thereafter.

Tanga and Pangani became important trading centres for slaves and ivory when the Sultan of Muskat and Oman moved to Zanzibar in 1832 and controlled a coastal strip of 10 miles inland of the East African coast.

In the scramble for Africa over the last decades of the 19th century, German commercial interests and later the German government the inland, bought the coastal strip from the Sultan and developed the colony as ‘German East Africa’.

With its protected port and fertile hinterland, especially in the Usambara Mountains, Tanga became a centre of German colonization and also an administrative centre up to 1890 when Dar es Salaam was made the capital of the emerging colony.

Tanga region covers 27,348 km2 has an estimated population of nearly two million inhabitants, with at least 300.000 living in Tanga City.

While most people in the hinterland are small farmers and livestock keepers, the coastal rural inhabitants live off fishing and small-scale farming.

Others are engaged in trades, boat building, salt harvesting and charcoal making. Tanga has the second largest port of Tanzania.

The region offers a wide range of beautiful places to visit: the long Indian Ocean coastline with its sheltered bays and lagoons, such as Moa, Manza, Kwale, Tanga and Mwambani bay.

Kigombe, Pangani and Ushongo have marvellous beaches - all with fringing and offshore coral reefs and sandbanks.

Tanga region hosts several protected areas: Saadani and Mkomazi National Parks, Amani Nature Reserve, Coelacanth Marine Park and Maziwe Island Marine Reserve.

The region also has lush mangrove forests, pristine semi-arid forests along the coast and on the islands.

By ADAM IHUCHA--The Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) and thousands of intruders are on a brink of war that could catch a multi-million-dollars airfield facelifts scheme in the crossfire.

In June 2014 Kilimanjaro Development Company (KADCO) is expected to embark on a major transformation of KIA with an eye to elevate the facility into a truly tourists gateway.

A nearly $47 million worth makeover plan will see all runways, apron, taxiways and passenger lounge refurbished in a bid to offer holidaymakers a hassle-free trip to the northern Tanzania’s tourism circuit.

But the project, among other developments under the new KIA’s integrated Master Plan, faces defiance from thousands of squatters, who are claiming the ownership of the land.

“We are called squatters, but the airport found us in this area, so who invaded who? We are not ready to move, we are here to stay” Kia Ward Civic leader, Sinyok Ole Nairuko says.

Mr Nairuko estimates that nearly 10,000 residents in Tindigani, Mtakuja, Sanya Station and Majengo villages would be affected, should the eviction executed to pave way for airport development.

Available records show that nearly 9,000 acres of the total area of 23,000 acres designated for the airport expansion have fallen in the hands of intruders, forming their own 'free' living empire, threatening the safety of the airport.

Officials say that thousands of local residents, from both districts of Arumeru and Hai in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions respectively, have illegally settled at ' the airport estate, establishing a number of villages with majority erecting residential and commercial premises, a number of them being permanent.

Way back in 2002, KADCO estimated Tshs 480 million ($300,000) at the current exchange rate, were needed to compensate the squatters, but at the moment the amount would be high, with analysts fear whether the government will be in position to fund the eviction move.

Aviation experts say that the invasion, apart from posing a security threat to the airport, but also frustrates KADCO’s master plan that could see the area of KIA transformed into a modern tourist and commercial city.

In an earlier interview, Transport Minister, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe says he was aware of the issue and has already ordered eviction of all squatters who have trespassed the area to allow KIA’s development.

While KIA was built way back in 1971, villagers claim that their villagers were registered in 1975.

Dr Mwakyembe says that he directed the new Board of directors of KADCO under Ambassador Hassan Kibelloh to evict the invaders in a bid to pave way for airport development.

"This is not the time for politics or political interference in sensitive issues of development and the country's security, I want all the people who have invaded the airport to be thrown out of the encroached area immediately," he noted.

Master plan

The KADCO’s new master plan aims at converting the 110 square kilometer space of the vast location surrounding the KIA into a state-of-the art, modern duty free shopping city that would compete
with UAE's Dubai.

Apart from the 43 year-old air terminal, the KIA area, strategically placed at the meeting point of three Northern Zone regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara, has for many years remained a wide stretch of unoccupied land as far as the eye can see, but this is bound to soon change.

According to the new KIA master plan, the location is to become a 'city' at the center of Moshi and Arusha, where prospective investors are to establish, massive shopping centers, high class tourist hotels, Duty free ports, Export Processing Zone, Educational Institutions, custom bonded warehouses, curio shops, golf courses and a large game ranch.

Having played the role of 'Gateway to the northern zone's tourist attractions' the Kilimanjaro Airport now intends to become 'the attraction,' the proposed plan may just see a number of Tanzanian bound tourists choosing to set camp right at the air terminal, not bothering to venture any further.

More than 80 percent of Tanzania bound tourists usually visit the Northern zone circuit, with some of them landing directly at KIA.

The 'Duty Free' center at KIA will benefit the two Northern urban centers, but even better, since businessmen will be getting the goods they usually buy in Dubai, right at their doorstep, prices of imported commodity will also be favorable to local residents.

This is in addition to the fact that, the 'Duty Free City' will be about 30 minutes drive from the Mirerani Hills, where the Tanzanite gemstones, ten times rarer than diamonds and which are only available in the location, are found.

The 'Duty Free City' project will also see KIA bouncing back with vengeance after the airport suffered butts of jokes from Kenyan counterparts who initially sneered at the terminal construction in the early seventies, saying it would fall under the shadow of the vast Jomo Kenyatta international airport.

By ADAM IHUCHA -- Poor infrastructures are denying Tanzania opportunity to exploit its geographical comparative advantage as a regional trade gateway and logistical hub.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says in a new report that greater economic activity; enhanced efficiency and increased competitiveness are hampered by inadequate transport infrastructures.

Transport systems in Tanzania are mainly ports, roads, rail, air and pipeline, but the AfDB transport review report says that all are in bad shape, save for under construction pipeline.

Situation is more critical on seaports, particularly Dar es Salaam harbor and the entire railway system, the study shows.

AfDB report puts it clear that the investment to breathe life into these facilities is beyond the country’s economic muscles and it recommends the public-private-partnership (PPPs) and development partners as the few options on the table for the country to source finance.

The main seaports, especially Dar es Salaam port, which provides vital access to world markets for six landlocked countries, is now constrained by inadequate space to store and process containers.

Again, the demise of rail services has resulted in a significant loss of traffic to road transport and the latter has benefitted from substantial investment in the trunk road network.

“The collapse of services has had a dramatic impact on trade in the central corridor. For businesses that use the railway, it has resulted in a steep increase in transportation costs” AfDB reads in part.

Both seaport and railway networks serve a large market, which includes the whole of the country’s hinterland and the landlocked countries of Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi.

Recent economic indicators for this region shows that it has about 168 million people, a combined GDP of $83 billion and an annual volume of trade exceeding $27 billion.

Seaport

Dar port was designed at a time prior to the introduction of containerization and was also designed for the direct transfer of small volumes of cargo direct from ship to rail and road modes.

As a consequence of changing technologies, the available space in the port footprint is now too small to cater to the volume of trade.

This has been one of the primary reasons for increasing congestion and added inefficiency and delay.

The World Bank’s third Tanzania Economic Update report shows, among other things, that container vessels transporting imported merchandise were on average queuing for 10 days just to be able to berth at the Dar Port, as well as an additional 10 days to unload the merchandise, clear it and transport it from the premises.

Drawing comparisons mostly between the Mombasa port, which is the largest in East Africa trailed by Dar es Salaam as well as international standards, the report depicts the symptoms of the port’s inefficiency.

It took less than a day for a ship to berth in Mombasa in 2012, while dwell time also lasted only about three to four days, which is close to international standards of two days.

To make the matters worse, Dar charges fees in proportion to the value of the merchandise, a practice that is prone to manipulation and corruption, and which could explain why official fees at the port are on average 74 per cent higher than in Mombasa where they charge simple flat rates.

WB report indicates that the cost of these inefficiencies alone translates into a tariff of 22 per cent on container imports and about five per cent on bulk imports.

“These inefficiencies created financial losses for shippers and shipping companies, resulting in increases to their inventory, storage and anchorage costs. These costs are in general passed on to consumers,” reads the report titled ‘Opening the Gates: How the port of Dar es Salaam can transform Tanzania,’ and authored by Jacques Morisset, the Lead Economist for Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda.

By the WB’s estimation, an average household would save $147 a year or 8.5 per cent of total expenditures – typically with the toll being harder on the poorest households – if the Dar es Salaam port were to be as efficient as Mombasa.

More figures served up in the Economic Update portray the grave costs to both the domestic and international level stakeholders as a result of the port’s inefficiency:

Nearly 37 per cent – the equivalent tariff on total energy imports, which constitute 35.5 per cent of total imports, as a result of long delays.

According to the WB, a total of $252 million losses incurred by shippers and shipping companies in total annual anchorage costs, as a result of long delay annually.

About $17.4 per tonne is the cost that an importer of merchandise worth $1,358 is willing to pay in bribes to speed up processes.

As if that was not enough, roughly $1,759 million is the total welfare loss to the Tanzanian economy as a result of the port’s inefficiency, whereas landlocked countries lose $830 million per annum.

“TPA and Tanzania Revenue Authority are also losing about $157 million,” reads the WB report.

Dar is the country’s largest port with an annual throughput of about 13.5 million tons a year in 2013, but AfDB report warned that the harbor location’s finite capacity would reach in 2020.

Investments

Whereas inadequate infrastructure could be the biggest threat to Tanzania’s long-term growth, it also represented a significant opportunity for investors.

The port capacity constraints urgently need to be addressed and include direct investment, such as additional container berth capacity, improvement of general cargo berths 1 to 7, dredging needs, and relocation of Kurasini Oil Jetty.

Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) says it needs partners to improve performance of Dar port by increasing annual cargo traffic from 13.5 million tonnes in 2013 to 18 million tonnes come 2015, which is about 30 per cent growth.

The Dar Port Manager, Mr Awadh Massawe says the target will only be achieved through modernization of infrastructure and enhancement of operational efficiency, maximization of spatial efficiency.

In order to be able to deepening berths 1-7 as well as modernizing bulk cargo handling, Mr Masawe says TPA seeks $213.572 million and he implores investors to chip in.

“We also need $170 million for access channel and turning circle dredging; $360 million for entrance channel dredging; $1.5 million for feasibility study for new proposed port at Mbwamaji and $3 million for feasibility study of the entrance channel and geo-technical survey” he noted.

To mitigate the congestion, investments should also be made in off-port inland container depots, improved intermodal interface between the port, rail, and roads subsectors.

AfDB report underlined the need for better handling capacity for bulk cargoes and container logistics; and improved connectivity between the port and its service hinterland by better road and rail networks in the vicinity of the port.

Furthermore, improvements to the administrative processes and elimination of bureaucracy need to be identified and implemented.

Overall, this long list of requirements will require a large investment.

Investment in the direct port requirements within the existing port footprint will require more than $1 billion, which is beyond the current capacity of TPA to provide.

“It is therefore necessary to explore outside the-box solutions as the “usual” channels of investment from government, TPA and development partners will not be sufficient to meet the large requirements” reads the AfDB study.

In march 2013; Tanzania and China signed a deal that will see the latter construct a multi-billion-dollars port at Bagamoyo district in Coast region, northwest of Dar es Salaam.

Bankrolled by the China state-owned Export-Import Bank (EXIM) at the tune of $10 billion, the dock is designed to be largest and ultra-modern in African continent.

Details show that the harbor is anticipated to be ready by 2017 and will be able to handle 20 times more cargo than Dar es Salaam port, the current major imports and exports gateway in East African, competing with Mombasa dock.

Dar and China-state-run-firm, Merchants Holdings (International) also contained the building of a 34km road between Bagamoyo and Mlandizi, which will link the port to Tanzania's internal rail network and the Tanzania-Zambia railway.

Railway

The key issue in the subsector concerns is the revival of Tanzania Railway Ltd (TRL). The demise of rail services has resulted in a significant loss of traffic to road transport and the latter has benefitted from substantial investment in the trunk road network.

The collapse of services has had a dramatic impact on trade in the central corridor. For businesses that use the railway, it has resulted in a steep increase in transportation costs.

This has had considerable adverse impact on the international trade routes with the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and Uganda.

Under the new five-year transport sector investment plan commenced in July 2012, the government has placed considerable emphasis on addressing railways and, in particular, the revival of the central rail corridor linking Dar es Salaam with the lake ports of Kigoma and Mwanza.

The proposed allocations under the plan amount to $130 million for railways, which is equivalent to 10.6 percent of the total allocation for the transport sector in the next five years.

The good news is that plans are underway for TRL to secure a large chunk of the funds from the state-owned-TIB development bank to support the infrastructure improvements associated with the revival plan.

The Minister for Transport, Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, said that mid February 2014, TIB development bank signed a memorandum of understanding with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) worth $130 million to support infrastructure in Tanzania.

The MoU was signed by DBSA Chief Executive, Mr Patrick Dlamini and TIB's Managing Director, Mr Patrick Noni and will benefit various vital projects.

Among the benefits of the financing of projects by the banks will be that TRL will be able to transport three million tonnes of goods per year by 2015 and allow Tanzania Airport Authority (TAA) to double its handling capacity for both Mwanza and Arusha airports.

Other projects include several prospective ports rehabilitation and expansion including Dar port berth 1 to 7 at the cost of $600 million after a feasibility study had been conducted and financed by DBSA and Mtwara port and a number of other projects in the water and energy sectors.

"Our cooperation and co-financing with DBSA are in line with our collective objectives of supporting economic growth through development to ensure rapid and sustainable infrastructure development of the country," said Mr Noni.

Dr. Mwakyembe said that if all goes well, the funds would be disbursed by TIB to the TRL, TAA and TPA in the next two months.

The key requirements for the Tanzania and Zambia railway (TAZARA) are for additional capital and a strengthened business plan to underpin improvements in service delivery and operational effectiveness.

Given the close involvement of China with the railway since its inception, the future plan for its development will require common agreement of the three governments.

“It is preferable that the three governments agree to proceed with a review of the current operations” AfDB report reads.

The AfDB says the review should include the possibility of bringing in the private sector to strengthen the business and management of the railway as well as examine if it is possible to introduce open access to offer competitive services on the line.

Roads

Over the next five years, the country needs $5.141 billions for roads development alone, which is approximately 64 percent of funds required for transport sector as a whole.

This is equivalent to an expenditure of about $1 billion a year over the next plan period.

AfDB report indicates a 68 percent of these funds will carry overdue projects, mostly that have been contracted, but have yet to commence construction.

The good news is that the development partners will meet a portion of this funding requirement.

In real terms, development partners indicate to foot somewhere around $1.050 billion, which is equivalent to 20 percent of the overall investment budget.

For local roads, the investment budget is estimated at $493 million equivalent or 6.2 percent of the total transport program, excluding possible support from development partners.

The proposed budgeted amounts, which increase from $61 million in 2012/2013 to $124 million in 2016/17 is expected to increase the length of local roads in good condition from about 13,000km at present to 15,000km at the end of the plan period.

The length of local roads in fair condition are projected to increase from 19,600 km at present to 26,600 km at the end of the plan while roads in poor condition are projected to decrease from 25,400 km at present to 16,400 km over the 5 year period.

While the total expenditure for local roads is not high, the developmental impacts is noteworthy at the local level, as accessibility will significantly improve in those rural areas currently constrained by poor access.

Despite the relatively small allocations in relation to the size of the network and its current condition, the proposed investment is a significant increase over allocations provided during the current plan.

A significant constraint concerns the lack of finance to support urban transport proposals.

The master plan study indicated that an investment of $4 billion would be required over the period to 2030, which is equivalent to $200 million a year, which is well beyond the currently available resources.

Airport

The country has also secured $164.3 million from the Netherlands for the expansion of the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to ease pressing capacity constraints.

Director general of the Tanzania Aviation Authority (TAA) Engineer, Suleiman Suleiman, said the airport’s original capacity was tailored to handle 1.2 million passengers per year, but the current use is nearly twice that number at over 2 million passengers.

TAA Chief said the first phase of the project will grow the airport’s capacity to 3.5 million passengers, and Phase Two will increase the capacity by a further 2.5 million passengers annually.

Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) will also undergo major rehabilitation that will cost Euro 35 million, $48.1 million (Tsh75billion).

The funds have already sourced from Orio Grant Facility of The Netherlands with Euro 15million being a grant and Euro 20million a loan to the government of Tanzania under concessionary terms.

The money would be used to rehabilitate the runway, apron, taxiways and the passengers’ terminal, according to Bakari Murusuri, the Director of Finance and corporate Services of the Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (KADCO) which manages the airport.

Mr Murusuri says the rehabilitation programme is expected to commence in June 2014 and will take about three years to be completed.

AfDB report shows that at present, there are over 3 million air passengers a year of which approximately 48 percent are international and 52 percent domestic.

The International passengers are concentrated at 4 airports; Dar, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and Arusha, while the bulk of domestic passengers also use these airports plus Mwanza.

For the sector as a whole, the forecasts indicate that the number of air passengers is expected to increase year. This growth rate is in the same range as those predicted by the master plan prefeasibility study.

While the bulk of the passenger traffic uses JNIA in Dar es Salaam, the global growth takes into account the small traffic volumes of most airports.

Overall, the country has 368 airports with the TAA responsible for 58 airports on the mainland.

The majority of the airports are private airfields owned by mining companies and tour operators.

By ADAM IHUCHA-- Thousand of people in northern Tanzania are protesting construction of the much needed Arusha-Holili-Taveta highway over delays in payment of compensation.

This throws the construction phase of a multi-million-dollar four-lane dual carriageway due to commence in April 2014 into disarray.

Tanzania has raised only Tsh 1 billion ($649350.65), out of Tsh 28 billion ($18.19 million) required to compensate nearly 1,000 people whose houses, will be demolished.

Information obtained shows that nearly 160 houses will be affected along a 40-km by-pass through Arusha - Usa River town.

The by-pass starts from Ngaramtoni to Kisongo, Arusha airport all the way to Njiro and Moshono suburbs on the southeast to connect with the Moshi road at Usa River.

“We are not going to move an inch without being full compensated. We are prepared for a battle to defend our rights,” a leader of protesters, Mr Arthur Sixtus said.

Mr Sixtus says that the state overdue compensation has distracted their plans as they were stopped to either modify or use their houses as collateral since January 2012.

Arusha Regional Manager for Tanzania Roads Network Agency (TANROADS), Engineer Deusdedit Kakoko, said that the state is looking for funds.

“To raise Tsh28 billion ($18.19million) for compensation is not a joke. These people should start to move as the government is looking for funds,” Engineer Kakoko noted.

He put it clear that with or without immediate compensation, the government will take over the area for the road construction.

According to him, the land occupiers should understand that the areas they hold are no longer theirs.

“The only rights for them is to demand for re-valuation of their properties, but they must depart” Engineer Kakoko.

Human rights lawyer, Ms Miriam Matinda says that section 49 (3) of the land Act of 1999, cap. 113 provides for the right to compensation over the revoked rights of occupancy.

“All land occupiers are entitled to prompt and adequate compensation. As a government which upholds the rule of law and good governance should compensate the affected people timely and promptly,” says Ms Matinda, who is also an advocate of the High Court of Tanzania.

The Arusha-Moshi road project is part of the 240km long regional project linking Arusha, the Community headquarters, and Voi town in Kenya.

Upgrading of the 85km long Voi-Holili section in Kenya is already underway, the official explained.

The entire project, whose pre-investment studies have completed, will cost an estimated $560 million.

The AfDB has granted nearly $300 million towards the crucial highway.

The EAC Secretariat say the available funds can only finance the 42 kilometre by-pass in Arusha and rehabilitation of a 35km Arusha-Usa River section of the 110km highway.

"We expect the civil works for the by-pass to start in the coming months", EAC Principal Engineer Hoseah Nyangweso explained, adding that rehabilitation of the Arusha- Usa River road will start at Sakina area and would be expanded to a four-lane up to Tengeru, some 20km away from the city.

Engineer Nyangweso could not explain when funds will be available to cover the entire Tanzanian side of the regional road.

However, sources said there was a possibility to come from AfDB, the traditional financier of road projects in East Africa.

The road is being massively rehabilitated in order to create another major transport corridor in the region, linking the Mombasa port with northern Tanzania and land-locked countries.

Official launching of the massive road-upgrading project would take place in April this year, according to the EAC director of Infrastructure Phillip Wambugu who said once the civil works commence, the section would be completed within three years.

"Once this road is completed, it would enable transporters to connect the Mombasa port with the rest of Tanzania and Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda without necessarily going through Nairobi", he said in Nairobi recently, adding; " It is our policy now to go for by-passes especially for trucks. There is no business for heavy trucks to pass through our cities, except for creating unnecessary traffic jams".

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Empire Voice

featured Slider

Controversy Over Serengeti International Airport Divide Tanzania

EAC Mulls Over Super-Highway to Link Tanzania's and Kenya's Coastlines

KIA Facelifts Under Threat As Squatters Refuse to Move

How Dilapidated Infrastructures Denies Dar Opportunities

Construction of Crucial Arusha-Holili-Taveta Four-lane Highway in Limbo

About Me

Fellow Bloggers

Search This Blog

Total Pageviews

Labels