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Furious Lowassa orders Shekilango road repaired
2006-05-12 12:58:05
By Patrick Kisembo
Prime Minister Edward Lowassa has ordered the Kinondoni Municipal Council to start rehabilitating the Shekilango road in Dar es Salaam from next Monday.
The PM gave the order yesterday after an inspection of the road.
Lowassa, cheered on by Sinza residents, questioned why the Kinondoni Municipal authorities had issued the licence for the rehabilitation of the road only yesterday – the same day he was touring the area.
’Why did you give out the tender today when I’m visiting? Where were you all these days?’ he asked the chairman of road maintenance in the municipality, Philip Magani.
The PM said the road is completely rundown and the people using it had lost hope of ever having a better one.
’You gave the tender today after you heard that I would be touring the area,’ Lowassa said.
He wondered why it had taken the officials such a long time to embark on the rehabilitation of the road.
’Have you seen how bad the road is? Do you think you are suitable for the job of a municipal director?’ Lowassa asked the bewildered director, Hussein Katanga.
In response, Katanga said that since the road was built in February 2005, funds had not been allocated for its maintenance.
’We had 700m/- that was allocated, but it was not enough for the maintenance of all roads,’ Katanga told the PM.
When things became too hot for the director, Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner, Yusuph Makamba intervened to save the official who was on the verge of being sacked.
Makamba said the director was only recently transferred to the district.
Instead, he added, the Kinondoni District Commissioner, Athuman Mdoe, Kinondoni Municipality Mayor Salum Londa as well as himself should bear the blame.
’Mr Prime Minister, forgive us. You know it is not easy for an old man to say sorry. We are apologising for our sins of omission. We shall meet soon and expedite the matter,’ Makamba said.
Minister for Infrastructure Development Basil Mramba asked stakeholders to co-operate during rehabilitation of the road.
’I do not have many roads to deal with in Dar es Salaam apart from Morogoro, Nyerere, Mandela, Kilwa and Bagamoyo roads,’ he said.
Lowassa directive comes just days after municipal officials told The Guardian that the road was due for rehabilitation.
This was nearly a decade after the demolition of structures along the road.
The Kinondoni Municipality said two weeks ago that it would embark on repair work mid this month.
Kinondoni Municipal Engineer Benjamin Maziku told The Guardian that rehabilitation would begin after evaluation of all tender bids.
Thereafter, the contractor was to be given one month to prepare.
’We expect the whole process of road construction to begin any time from Monday next week. The repairs will involve the construction of a new drainage system,’ Maziku said.
Sinza residents have complained for years about the poor state of the road to no avail.
The ongoing rains have worsened the state of the road by widening and deepening the existing potholes.
Maziku said the construction of the 3.8km tarmac road would cost 2.4 bn/-.
’Construction will start mid this month and will take four to six months to complete. The entire drainage system will have to be overhauled,’ Maziku said.
Meanwhile, the conversion of Dar es Salaam’s Sam Nujoma road into a dual carriageway will commence next September, Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads) has said.
The tender for the construction will be awarded next week, Tanroads Dar es Salaam Regional Manager, Julius Ndyamkama said on Wednesday.
The construction was to start in March this year, but was postponed as a result of logistical problems.
’There were delays in finalising formalities in the appointment of a contractor,’ Ndyamkama said.
The contractor would get three months to prepare himself before starting the task which will last 12 months, he said.
He appealed to Tanzania National Electricity Company (Tanesco), Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL) and Dawasa to pull down the structures they have erected on the roadsides.
The construction of the dual carriageway will facilitate smooth movement of vehicles from Mwenge to Ubungo and the vice versa.
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