Africa-Press – Tanzania. FINANCE and Planning Ministry has expressed satisfaction with the progress made in implementing the 2,115 megawatts Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP).
Commissioner of External Finance Department (CEF), Ministry of Finance and Planning Ms Sauda Msemo made the remarks during her tour of the project accompanied by other ministry officials.
Ms Msemo was representing the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary. The delegation was led by Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy, Kheri Mahimbali.
The finance commissioner said that her ministry is satisfied on how the money released for the project are being spent for the intended purpose Msemo said that the tour conducted by the ministry’s officials aimed at seeing the progress of the project and how the money injected in the project is being spent.
“We have toured various projects and we are satisfied with the progress made so far, the project is on the right track and we have seen government initiatives in overseeing the project so that it can be concluded within the given time frame,” she said.
For his part, Deputy PS, Mr Mahimbali said that commissioners and directors of the ministry of finance visited various areas to see the implementation of the project, including power generating systems He said that Ministry of Finance, which oversees the project has been pleased with the implementation pace.
The PS said that various groups have been visiting the project, including citizens and leaders since it is a strategic project and crucial to the country’s economic growth.
Briefing about the implementation of the project, resident engineer John Mageni said that the construction of five key areas which are directly involved in power generation have been completed by 54.3 per cent. He noted that until June this year a total of 6,650 Tanzanians have been employed at the project.
In May this year when he visited the project site, Energy Minister Medard Kalemani said that it has reached 52 per cent, saying it is on track to be completed by June, 2022.
The power station is expected to have an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts (2,836,000 hp) and to produce 5,920GWh of power annually, which will hugely boost the country’s power pool for socio-economic development.
