AUTHORITIES in Chato District, Geita Region, are set to turn the status of a local airport from an idle terminal to a busy hub for shipments of fresh water fish from Lake Victoria.

Chato District Commissioner Said Nkumba disclosed this on Wednesday here, saying that the government has already disbursed over 1.7bn/- for the establishment of an International Fish Processing and export zone on the shores of Africa's largest Lake.

“Most of the district residents are fishermen and we intend to boost their activities through the provision of a modern fish market, cold storage facilities and proper packaging skills as well as outlets for their products,” he said.

Chato is home to 470,000 residents, most of them fishermen and farmers. The government thus wants to create a special industry for that.

Chato Airport, according to the district commissioner, will serve as the portal for taking fish products from Chato to other regions as well as connecting with other terminals such as the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to fly fish shipment outside the country.

Apart from the airport, the district transport sector is being complemented with a modern bus terminal constructed at the cost of 14bn/- which is soon set to open gates for the upcountry passenger vehicles.

The large bus terminal comes at a time when the construction of the Magufuli Bridge, also known as the Kigongo - Busisi Bridge, is nearly complete and set to open anytime this year.

Previously referred to as the Mwanza Gulf Bridge, it spans 3.2 kilometres across Lake Victoria, linking the Kigongo area of Mwanza and Busisi in Geita Region. The bridge is expected to reduce the crossing time from the current 40 minutes by ferry to just four minutes by vehicles.

The Kigongo-Busisi is reported to be the longest bridge in East Africa and the sixth-longest on the African continent and once in operation, it is expected to handle an average of 1,600 vehicles every 24 hours.

Outside business, Chato is also beefing up the district’s academic prowess with the ongoing construction of the Institute of Financial Management (IFM) at the cost of 8.5bn/- and the National Library facility at the cost of 3.4bn/-.

All these facilities will serve the population of nearly 500,000 residents in the five divisions, 23 wards and 115 villages making up the entire Chato District.