AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday inaugurated Ubungo Interchange, renaming the one of its kind road junction after the fallen Chief Secretary Eng John Kijazi in honour of his contribution to the country’s road subsector.
President Magufuli said Eng Kijazi had done a lot in the road construction area and that it was crucial for his work to be recognized and honoured nationally.
“Most of the projects in the country including markets and bus terminals were done through him because he was a leader of the Ministerial Technical Committee (MTC), thus he has in one way or another contributed to the success of these projects,” Dr Magufuli said.
He noted that Eng Kijazi once served as Director of Regional Roads and Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Works.
“There is no doubt that this interchange deserves to be named after Eng Kijazi and that is why I did not wait for the minister to announce the name of this bridge,” Dr Magufuli said.
Speaking after a requiem mass held in Dar es Salaam last week, Dr Magufuli described the late Chief Secretary Eng John Kijazi as a great public servant whose exemplary performance enabled his rise to the echelons of power in the government.
The president said that he knew Eng Kijazi in 1995 when he was appointed Deputy Minister for Works during which he had the opportunity to meet with regional engineers including the late Eng Kijazi who was stationed in Dodoma.
“What was unique with Eng Kijazi is that while serving as Dodoma Regional Engineer, all roads in the region were in good condition despite being allocated a similar budget with other regions,” the president said.
He observed that in 2000, when the late President Benjamin Mkapa named him Minister for Works, he personally requested the president to appoint Eng Kijazi the Permanent Secretary. The request was granted in 2002.
The president, however, said that Kijazi Interchange has resolved major traffic challenges at Ubungo area which forced Dar es Salaam residents to spend hours in congestion.
He said the interchange which has been jointly funded by the government of Tanzania and World Bank has the capacity of serving 68,839 vehicles per day.
“This is a huge number of vehicles per day so you can imagine how the problem of congestion was critical in the area,” he said.
He said the construction of the interchange was the implementation of the CCM’s Election Manifesto which pledged to ensure construction of new roads.
Dr Magufuli commended the contractors for completing the work as per schedule but also Tanzania National Road Agency (TANROAD) and Ministry of Works for good supervision of the work.
TANROAD Chief Executive Officer Eng Patrick Mfugale said that the project has been completed as scheduled.
He said that the project has been implemented at a cost of 229.8bn/-,VAT inclusive.
The money was dished out by the World Bank as a soft loan and the government of Tanzania contributed 8.375bn/- as compensation to qualified residents.
