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Ministers decry NEPAD `talking shop`
2007-04-28 10:41:15
By Austin Beyadi
NEPAD ministers have called for quick implementation of the East African sub-marine optical fiber cable project, saying the delay is putting their ministerial posts at risk.
The ministers, who met in Dar es Salaam yesterday, said it was high time the project became operational and saved tax payers` money, which ministers spend by attending endless meetings dwelling on the issue.
The scheme is undertaken under the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).
Yesterday`s meeting was supposed to be attended by 23 NEPAD ministers but only four ministers from Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda and hosts Tanzania turned up.
Speaking during the meeting, the Malawi minister for Information and Tourism, Patricia Kaliati, called on NEPAD ministers to set an ultimatum.
She said the proposed undertaking was consuming a lot of taxpayer\'s money, which the ministers were spending each now and then for attending such gatherings.
Kaliati said it was amazing to note that the project was launched in 2003 and had been discussed each time around but there was no progress.
``It is high time we set up a time frame. Next time we will have no ministers attending these meetings,`` she said.
The minister said some of the ministers might be reshuffled for failing to elaborate the updates of the project which was taking too long to be realized.
``I cannot afford to be reshuffled by my president for failing to inform him about the progress of the scheme, which is taking four years just for discussions,`` she added.
Kenyan Deputy Minister for Communication David Were said it was taking too long for NEPAD to put the project into action and this had created a lot of concern from taxpayers.
Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Infrastructure Development Andrew Chenge said rapid deployment and proliferation of new and emerging information and communication technologies would herald new opportunities for growth and development.
He said governments world wide were seeking to harness massive potential.
Although ICT applications promised significant benefits, there were also undesirable consequences which contributed to uneven economic progress and development, he said.
The Central Corridor Trade and Transport Facilitation project was initiated to address issues of trade facilitation and the development of an efficient and reliable transportation infrastructure in the region.
The plan is aimed at extending services to landlocked countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda with Tanzania serving as the entry and exit point for exports and imports of those countries.
The project involves construction of a railway line from Isaka to Kigali with the possibility of extending the line to Burundi and DRC; improvement of the existing Dar es Salaam-Tabora-Kigoma and Tabora-Mwanza railway line and construction of a paved road from Dodoma to Tabora, plus building the Malagarasi Bridge to ensure smooth flow of transit cargo to and from the landlocked countries.
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