SUPER TRANSIT RAILWAY LINE WORK DUE IN JUNE 2015

Transport Minister, Samuel Sitta.

Construction of the 2,561-kilometre standard gauge railway that will ease transportation of goods from Dar es Salaam port to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is scheduled to start on June 30, this year. The 14 trillion/- Central Corridor project will be accomplished within five years.

This revelation comes nearly three days after six heads of East and Central African countries met in Dar es Salaam to discuss how to fast-track implementation of the Central Corridor Projects and enhancement of investment in the sector.

Addressing reporters in Dar es Salaam, Transport Minister Samuel Sitta said that President Jakaya Kikwete will inaugurate the project. “This railway line will run from Mpiji in Dar es Salaam to Kigoma through Tabora, Mwanza, Isaka to Rusumo, Kaliua-Mpanda-Karema and Uvinza-Musongati in Burundi,” he said.

The Minister pointed out that Reli Assets Holding Company (RAHCO) has contracted Rothschild, one of the Word’s largest financial advisory groups based in the US, to mobilise resources for the project.

Moreover, Mr Sitta noted that implementation of other two railway projects will also have their foundation stones laid this year.

These projects include Southern route, which will run from Mtwara to Mbambabay via Songea and Mchuchuma to Liganga and the Northern route running from Tanga- Arusha-Musoma, also connecting Engaruka Soda Ash Mines and Minjingu Phosphates.

According to the minister, the two projects will cost 6.6 billion US dollars and will create over 500,000 employment opportunities.

“These three railway projects will cost 14.2 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to 26 trillion/-. Over 1 million Tanzanians will be employed by the time these projects are carried out. They will be constructed between 2015 and 2021,” he explained.

He noted that funds that will be borrowed from other developed countries and financial institutions will be repaid within 20 years. “We don’t expect to use taxpayers’ money to recover the loan.

We expect that funds, which will be generated from the project will be sufficient enough to settle up the loan,” he noted. Mr Sitta affirmed that the existing railway, which is in meter gauge is able to ferry only five million tonnes while it is expected that by 2025 the demand of goods to be transported from Dar es Salaam Port to other landlocked countries will hit 30 million tonnes per year.

“The average speed of the train will be 100 kilometres per hour; it is thus expected that transporting goods from Dar es Salaam to DRC will take only 12 hours,” he stated.

On the other hand, Mr Sitta said that three countries -- Tanzania, Burundi and DRC -- have signed a preliminary agreement to use Dar es Salaam Port. As opposed to Mombasa port, the Minister said that due to its geographical advantage, Dar es Salaam Port will thrive to ensuring that it serves the countries with utmost efficiency.

It is apparent that completion of the project will mark the end of using lorries to ferry goods across the countries. According to the research by the Central Corridor Transport Facilitation Agency, there are 20 barriers between Dar es Salaam and Kigali, Bujumbura and Kampala which slow down the movement of goods within the East African region.

The agency, which is a multilateral established on September 2, 2006, by five governments -- Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, pointed out that non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are common transit delays caused mainly by inspections carried out by multiple national regulatory authorities.

In its research, the agency found out that trucks often have to stop as much as 20 times, for example, between Dar Port and Kigali, Bujumbura and Kampala, a situation that raises transport costs by 15 per cent.

The situation is made worse by the fact that nearly 90 per cent of goods in the central transport corridor are currently ferried by road.

Meanwhile, Mr Sitta announced that the probe team that was formed to carry out investigations on allegations that led to suspension of the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Acting Director General, Mr Madeni Kipande, has completed its work.

“I will sit with the TPA board and come up with a joint decision; it is not a thing to be decided by one person,” he commented. Mr Kipande is accused, among other things, of violating TPA procurement procedures.

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