Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has obtained a loan of over 700bn/- , which will be spent on implementation of the Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP), including addressing challenges involving the Msimbazi River Basin, the National Assembly was told.
Deputy Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Hamad Chande said that his office was implementing the project in question with a soft loan of 300 million US dollars from the World Bank.
In addition, he said the government of the United Republic of Tanzania, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), was implementing the “Tanzania Urban Resilience Programme (TURP)” to assist Councils and the Central Government in addressing climate change. “To begin with, the programme will begin to address the challenges facing the Msimbazi River Basin. The DFID has already allocated 20 million US dollars for the Msimbazi River Basin,” the deputy minister said.
According to him, the World Bank through the DMDP project has also approved an additional 100 million US dollars’ loan to meet challenges of the Msimbazi River Basin.
The deputy minister was responding to a basic question by Tarimba Gulam Abbas (Kinondoni), who sought to know when the government would start the construction of Msimbazi River Basin as promised in the 2020-2025 election manifesto of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi.
Mr Chande told the House that the government plans to transform the Msimbazi River basin into a place for investment and other various opportunities. To achieve that goal, the deputy minister pointed out that the detailed design for the project has been completed.
“Implementation of the project will begin after obtaining government approval regarding the use of such loan funds through the Ministry of Finance and Planning,” he said.
However, the deputy minister said that in order to reduce the impact of the current floods, the Msimbazi River section along Jangwani Bridge was regularly being cleaned by the Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) by removing sand.
In a supplementary question, the lawmaker wanted to know the government’s commitment to assist residents of Kigogo and Magomeni wards who are frequently affected by floods originating from the river in question.
The deputy minister assured the MP that his office will team up with the residents at the area in assisting them to continue removing sand to increase the depth of the river.
