AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government reaffirmed its commitment of adopting feasible and affordable technological options in the implementation of road projects, especially in rural areas across the country.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications Elius Mwakalinga (Works) expressed the government’s commitment at the weekend while winding up a low volume sealed roads construction technology training workshop in Chamwino in Dodoma Region.
Training was supported by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and organised by Mbeya-based Appropriate Technology Training Institute (ATTI).
“The government has been very keen on ensuring feasible and affordable technological options are adopted for the development of rural roads,” he said, noting that, “roads are catalysts for development as they are used to transport goods and people from one place to another, opening access to services and business opportunities.”
The PS maintained that there was a close link between infrastructure, specifically roads with socioeconomic development in the country.
“They act like veins in a human body which circulates blood in and out of the heart,” he said.
The training workshop brought 20 participants from ATTI, Tarura, Tanroads, Tasaf, Zanzibar Road Fund Board, the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government Authorities), Morogoro Works Training Institute, the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Employment, Youth and People with Disabilities) as well as four locally-based contractors from Lindi, Mbeya, Rukwa and Dodoma regions.
Mr Mwakalinga emphasised that the training workshop would help improve rural roads, noting that accessibility of rural areas had to consider a number of factors, such as availability of technology, affordability of technology, need of the technology as well as technology choice.
ILO National Programme Coordinator, Social Protection and Employment Intensive Investment Programme (EIIP) Dampu Ndenzaro said: “ILO is happy to see the government investing in major infrastructural development works like the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline, Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Mwalimu Nyerere Hydro Electric Power Project.”
He acknowledged that the government was also committed to other strategies that promoted inclusive growth for employment promotion and creation.
ILO has been working closely with the government in many areas of work, which aims at advancing the decent work agenda.
They include employment promotion, labour standards and social protection while integrating other cross-cutting issues, such as gender, environment and HIV/Aids.
Mr Ndenzaro explained that such training focused on facilitating learning of new technologies and showcased the use of labour-based feasible technologies for the development of roads among engineers, technicians and small-scale contractors, while promoting skills, enterprise development and job creation for rural communities.
He said it would also contribute to learning new feasible technology options for road construction and rehabilitation, while impacting skills for enterprise development and the future employment potential.
