CHIEF of Defence Forces, General Venance Mabeyo has urged the army’s national service to acquire its own construction equipment as it strategically positions itself to take-over a lead role in the booming sector.
Speaking shortly after launching the newly built national service headquarters at Buigiri— off Chamwino District in Dodoma, the CDF said the plan could help the unit lower cost of undertaking mega projects— that involves renting expensive equipment.
“You can start slowly,” he said, emphasizing that using the army’s own funds could help meet a large portion of the needed budget.
Tanzania National Service was established in 1964, strategically to build sense of nationalism, develop cultural and sociological awareness as well as provide skills to build economic independence, and thus reduce unemployment.
But with time, the army’s independent wing had graduated into a competent firm offering entertainment, sports, projects and services.
In recent years, the national service demonstrated its capability when they took over the job of constructing the Mirerani mines perimeter wall, the State House wall at Chamwino, Ngerengere air force base wall, as well as prison structures in Dar es Salaam.
“We believe if you invest in your own technical equipment it will lower production cost that has been augmented by existing middlemen,” he said.
The CDF expressed satisfaction at the quality of work accomplished by the national service in executing various projects, insisting that the major work ahead will be the construction of modern headquarters of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) at Kikombo suburb on the outskirt of the city.
“If I am to emphasize, this is our first state of the art structure to be built by Tanzanians. Most of the structures that the armies still use were built by foreigners,” he said, adding that the aim is to have exceptional structures that can be used for over 100 years.
Tanzania construction industry has been growing steadily, where the all-important construction sector contributed 13.6 per cent to the gross domestic product in 2015, reaching almost six billon US dollars.
According to General Mabeyo, TPDF is currently working on architectural designs of the new headquarters and the construction work will begin immediately.
The Chief of National Service, Brigadier General Charles Mbuge said he was delighted to see the new headquarters had been opened in Dodoma, and assured the CDF and the Commander in Chief, President John Magufuli that they will not be disappointed.
