Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE project to construct banks along the Msimbazi River in Dar es Salaam is expected to kick off in July this year, Parliament has been told.
Deputy Minister in the Vice-President’s Office, Union and Environment Khamis Hamza told Parliamentarians that right now, the government is conducting an assessment for compensation to be paid to those who will vacate their premises to pave the way for the project.
The project will be jointly implemented by the government and the World Bank through Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP).
The project is meant to provide long lasting solutions to regular floods in Dar es Salaam sections of Ilala and Kinondoni districts during rainy seasons, said the deputy minister.
Mr Hamza was responding to a question from Special Seats MP, Agness Lambert who sought to know when the project would kick off.
In April last year, the government said a total of 120 million US dollars (equivalent to 277.23bn/-) had been set aside to address challenges of the overflowing of Msimbazi River in Dar es Salaam.
The Deputy Minister of State in the Vice-President Office (Union and Environment), told lawmakers in the parliament that the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) had already released 20 million US dollars for the project.
The deputy minister gave the explanation when he was responding to Kinondoni MP Abbas Tarimba who sought to know when the government would start construction of the Msimbazi River as stipulated in the ruling CCM’s election manifesto (2020-2025).
He also said that the World Bank (WB), through Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP), has agreed to boost the project with a loan amounting to 100 million US dollars.
According to him, the government has planned to transform the Msimbazi River basin into an investment area with various opportunities.
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