Preparations for the construction of the SGR project connecting Tanzania and the land-locked countries of DRC Congo and Burundi from Uvinza in Kigoma Region are set to be completed next month.
Transport Minister Engineer Isaack Kamwelwe made the revelation in Dar es Salaam yesterday, noting that the completion of the preparations that include feasibility studies will enable the three countries embark on ways of raising funds for constructing the project set to be ready by early next year.
“We are set to construct the SGR from our own funds,” he said, noting that the trio will come together to draw plans on how they will generate funds for the mission.
The minister, who was speaking as he took around the visiting Minister of Transport from DRC Congo Didier Mazenga Mukanzu at Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), said feasibility studies for Uvinza to Msogati have been completed.
” The Uvinza to Msogati design has been completed. The funds that facilitated the designing exercise were raised by Tanzania and Burundi,” he said, adding that Burundi and Congo are set to complete another visibility study from Uvira to Kindu in DRC after agreeing to raise money to conduct feasibility study that will draw the SGR design from Uvira to Kitundu.
The project, which is set to be completed early next year, will facilitate clearance of goods to the two landlocked countries of Congo and Burundi to be conducted in Kigoma.
The process, according to the minister, will help in easing the transport fees currently incurred in transporting the goods from Dar es Salaam Port to the two countries by land.
“The aim of planning up the project is to ease the transportation fees incurred by the citizens of Burundi, Congo and Rwanda to acquire goods,” he said, adding that the cost of transporting a container from Dar es Salaam to Lubumbashi is 900 US dollars, which he said was very costly for the three countries.
On the other hand, the DRC minister Mukanzu said the project set to smoothen transportation will increase business between DRC Congo and Tanzania.
He highly commended the operations at the TPA, assuring Engineer Kamwelwe of increased business from DRC at the port.
“The port (TPA) is one of the things we are proud of and I want to assure you that more and more businesses are going to come in from DRC through the SGR project whose implementation we are drawing up,” he said.
The Director General of the Tanzania Railway Company (TRC) Mr Masanja Kadogosa, said that the TRC had already assembled a technical team for drawing up a better implementation plan of the project.
The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General Engineer Deusdedit Kakoko lauded the process of putting up the SGR to link the two landlocked countries, saying that the move will smoothen TPA operations between the two countries.
