Author: LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA will have reliable power supply in the next five years after the completion of the ongoing power projects which are expected to add 5,000 megawatts of electricity to the national power grid.
Chama cha Mapinduzi presidential candidate John Magufuli made the promise in Dodoma yesterday at the launch of the party’s election campaigns, saying if re- elected to the high office, his government will oversee the completion of the ongoing power projects which are expected to boost electricity supply in the country.
Dr Magufuli said the party’s 2020-2025 Election Manifesto directs the government to complete the execution of the major Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) that is expected to produce 2,115 megawatts of electricity and other projects which will generate power from other sources such as water, natural gas and renewable energy.
“Generally, we expect to add 5,000 megawatts of electricity to the national power grid and complete the rural ectrifcation project by connecting to power all the remaining villages,” Dr Magufuli said.
He noted that to date, a total of 9,570 villages out of 12,228 have been connected to electricity, thus the remaining 2,980 villages will be connected to power over the next five years.
Dr Magufuli called upon Tanzanians to vote for CCM in the forthcoming General Election to enable the ruling party accomplish its development plans.
Mid this month, the government said that that come June next year, no village in the country will be in darkness as it is planning to accomplish all rural electrification projects.
Chief Government Spokesperson Dr Hassan Abbasi said that more villages have continued to be connected to power, noting that 9,412 villages had been electrified, up from 2,018 villages recorded in the past five years.
“During this financial year, by next June, we want to ensure that all 12,268 villages countrywide have power,” he stated.
In supplying power to the villages, the government has over the past five years spent over 2.29tri/-, out of which 1.7tri/- was from domestic sources and the remaining 515bn/- from development partners.
The amount spent on investment on supplying power to rural areas has increased to an average of 506bn/- during the Fifth Phase Government from 347bn/- spent during 2015/16.
On other hand, massive investments on gas-generated electricity over the past five years, has seen Tanzania producing surplus power of 300MW and relieving the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO) Limited from incurring huge operational costs.
The government had so far injected over 1.1tri/- on gas power plant projects, a move which made the State power supply company save over 120bn/- annually, the money it was spending on paying Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Meanwhile, Dr Magufuli said his government plans to improve communication services by ensuring access to telecommunication services across the country.
The government will also proceed with the construction of the national fibre optic network to increase internet usage from 43 per cent to 80 per cent.
Dr Magufuli further said that the government intends to improve social services, including health, by completing the construction of 99 district hospitals, ten referral hospital and four zonal hospitals.
“We will also continue to strength availability of medical drugs, equipment, reagents and national health insurance schemes,” Dr Magufuli said.
