PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has reminded taxpayers of their role to voluntarily pay taxes to facilitate implementation of various development projects including road construction.

Inaugurating the new municipal office building and the 107-kilometer Sumbawanga-Matai-Kasanga road in Kalambo District during a three day tour of Rukwa Region, the president cautioned drivers on highway speeding as this causes accidents which claims the lives of many people.

She also inaugurated a strategic cereal storage facility, a vocational training centre and the Sumbawanga airport, telling the gathered residents that for the country to implement various projects, people need to pay taxes that will depend on their business operations or incomes, “but tax ought to be paid.”

There are no governments in the world which are run by any other means but by taxes which are paid by its people, she remarked, returning to the bad habits of some drivers, who are glued to speeding.

There are drivers who do not follow traffic regulations whenever they are driving on good roads, raising the number of accidents which cost families and public resources, she stated.

Drivers who park their vehicles on the side of major roads for any reason, especially if there is a breakdown, often lead to substantial engine oil leakage which touches off road damage and even disaster.

Building one kilometre of a major road is the same as building three health centers and putting medical equipment in such facilities, she said in illustration, urging the residents to help take care of newly improved roads.

She spoke of government plans to build a bypass road to Laela area to connect with the road to Kasanga Port, thus promote trade with neighboring countries, pointing out that before the road was built transport to that destination used to take a whole day, but after it was extensively revamped, it only takes two hours to reach the port.

She said the Kalambo District Council building will facilitate the coordination and delivery of important services to people in the area, bringing together the district leadership, ward councillors and district administration department heads.

She referred to construction of the district hospital that is ongoing, noting that so far 1.64bn/- had been spent on its construction, with services like the ward for maternity and child services having started to operate.

Inaugurating the grain storage sheds and warehouses in Kanondo village, the president said the goal is to improve storage and relieve farmers of the burden of situations where agents pay peanuts or crops rot in homes, thus promoting production.

Farmers need to stop the habit of selling grain to people without permits who also smuggle the crops across the border, asking the sellable produce be delivered to warehouses of the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA).

This will enable the crops to be sold at fair prices unlike agents who pay cheaply and sell across the border at higher prices, so the profit obtained will help farmers to purchase subsidised fertiliser as a key agricultural input.

District commissioners need to ensure that they control marketing practices for grain, ensuring that the produce is sold through the agency, with everyone seeking to make purchases having to show permit.

Residents of Kashai area can also make good use of the vocational training college built in the area by conducting business with the facility or its users, while sending their youths to obtain skills. They will be able to use the skills as resources to bring about development for themselves or by being hired by others, she added.