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`Work on Kigamboni Bridge to begin soon`
2008-07-19 09:28:52
By Bilal Abdul-Aziz, Dodoma
It`s now official: Construction of Kigamboni Bridge in Dar es Salaam will start this financial year.
Labour, Employment and Youth Development minister
Juma Kapuya broke the good news when tabling his ministry’s 2008/09 budget estimates in the National Assembly yesterday.
The bridge, to be built across the Kurasini creek, will link metropolitan Dar es Salaam to the Kigamboni suburb, whose residents have endured serious transport problems for decades.
Most currently depend on the off and on services of two dilapidated pontoons - MV Alina and MV Kigamboni – to cross the creek. Smaller vessels usually chip in when the pontoons are grounded, with safety far from guaranteed.
``The National Social Security Fund will co-ordinate the Kigamboni Bridge construction project. As Prime Minister Mizengo told the House when tabling the budget estimates of his office recently, the government has already sanctioned the construction of the bridge,`` said Prof Kapuya.
The Fund was in the process of getting a strategic investor to partner with it in executing the project, he added, echoing a pledge made several times in recent years.
Meanwhile, House Community Development Committee chairperson Jenista Mhagama said they had been informed of the existence of a cabinet circular on the project that had already been endorsed by a committee of ministerial permanent secretaries.
``The respective circular is now ready for presentation in the cabinet, as proposed by the committee,`` she said.
She noted that the government was to blame for shelving the project for years, calling for a time-frame to guide the implementation.
Speaking on behalf of the opposition, Labour, Employment and Youth Development shadow minister Salim Abdallah Khalfan, said his camp was happy ``now that the government has decided to implement the project``.
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