Africa-Press – Tanzania. ABOUT 45bn/- has been set aside for the implementation of the residential addresses plan and postcode allocations in 194 councils across Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Minister for Information, Communications and Information Technology, Dr Ashatu Kijajimade made the revelation during a tour of Mwanza City Council, to see the project’s implementation on the ground, over the weekend.
“Mwanza City Council is a model for this plan towards reaching all the councils countrywide as we move to reach 184 of them in Tanzania Mainland and 10 in Zanzibar,” she said.
Elaborating, the Minister pointed out that the initiative seeks to ensure that every street and house is named and inscribed with a recognized number that would facilitate the government’s operations, towards a digital economy and simplify delivery of products and services.
“This move will simplify the government’s operations in the society…it will ease accessibility to people’s homes, especially in case of emergency, be it an accident or health problem.
“It will also encourage online businesses, with sellers being able to digitally advertise their products, receive orders and easily reaching customers in their homes or working places,” she said, adding that attaining the digital economy would be difficult if residential houses lack location and postcode numbers.
However, she expressed gratitude to President Samia Suluhu Hassan for availing funds to the ministry to carry out the project.
On her part, Permanent Secretary (PS) in the ministry, Dr Zainab Chaula, called for cooperation from members of the public for swift implementation of the scheme.
Elaborating, she said that address and postcode exercise will offer them several benefits, including job creation to the youth, who will implement it in the streets.
Commenting on the exercise, Mwanza Regional Commissioner (RC), Engineer Robert Gabriel said the plan will equally stimulate economic growth, since all activities will be monitored through centralized digital systems.
“It will lead into quick and effective implementation of development projects of the government…following well set up centralisation of the State Digital Monitoring system. For instance, if the issue is classroom construction, then every stage will be transparently seen and monitored by all relevant authorities concerned.
“This will also reduce the number of trip of supervisors meant to pay for the projects’ inspections as everything will be digitally implemented…be it directives or reports’ submissions.
“Even those who used to disappear with banks’ loans to unknown places together with their guarantors will automatically have no place to hide, because the address and postcode will expose them,” said the RC.
On his part, Mwanza City Council Housing and Postcode Experts Committee Chairman, Mr Moses Seleki, said that by October 14, 2021 over 108,000 houses from 18 Wards in the city had been allotted with house numbers in the exercise.
“This exercise of allocating the numbers and postcode addresses in the streets and houses started on 1st July, 2021 seeing more than 98,801 getting postcodes in Mwanza City, categorized as 74,248 buildings and 24,588 vacant plots,” said Mr Seleki.
