Kassim Majaliwa

The government has allocated 296bn/- in the fiscal year 2012/13 for development projects in councils in which the Rombo district council has been assured of 2.2bn/-.

The State Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Kassim Majaliwa told the House yesterday during the parliamentary question and answer session in response to Rombo MP Joseph Selasini (Chadema).

Selasini wanted to know if the government is ready to support Rombo residents in the construction of secondary schools.

Majaliwa said the government is supporting Rombo residents in the construction of secondary schools by providing land through the local government authorities.

Land shortage among Rombo residents made them decide to construct secondary schools in a storey form, citing cases of Keni, Shimbi and Bustani secondary schools.

According to him, during the financial year 2010/11 the government allocated 625m/- to support residents’ efforts in education development projects in Rombo district.

“By considering construction costs of building three storey schools the money distributed was 57,645,850/- to Bustani secondary school, 53,995,850/- to Keni secondary school and 53,995,850/- to Shimbi secondary school,” he stated.

He called upon the council to utilize the money properly in order to accomplish current projects before starting new projects.

In a supplementary question, Mbulu MP Mustafa Akunaay (Chadema) wanted to know the strategy of the government in building houses for teachers.

The minister said the construction of teachers’ houses is among objectives of the government which will be accomplished in phases in line with available budget funds. During this fiscal year the government has allocated 296bn/- in order to continue the building of teachers’ houses, he said.

He also acknowledged the shortage of teachers’ houses in Busanda constituency. In sorting out the problem the government has been allocating funds for the building and renovation of a number of houses, he said.

His response was in reaction to Busanda MP Lolesia Bukwimba (CCM) who wanted to know what the government intends to so in relation to constructing teachers’ houses in Busanda constituency.

In the financial year 2006/07 to 2009/10 the government allocated a total of 22,800,000/- in support of Geita residents’ efforts towards the construction of 25 teachers’ houses.

However, he said during the 2010/11 fiscal year about 2bn/- was allocated for the construction of primary schools teachers’ houses in which 49m/- was allocated to Geita district for the same purpose.

He called upon the councils to prioritize the construction of teachers’ houses in their budgetary goals.