CONSTRUCTION OF THE ARUSHA-HOLILI HIGHWAY, TANZANIA POSTPONED TO FIND SUITABLE CONTRACTOR

Construction works on a Tanzanian road.

Construction works on the Arusha-Holili highway has been pushed until April 2015. The delay has been attributed to the long procedure in vetting of the suitable contractor for the project and finalization of other technical details.

The project had been estimated to cost USD 560m, out of which the African Development Bank (AfDB) had granted US$ 224m towards the project.

The 110Km Arusha-Holili highway was to be rehabilitated, but the funds available can only cater for 35km of the road from Arusha-Usa River and 42km of the by-pass within Arusha, according to principal civil engineer with the East African Community (EAC) Hosea Nyangweso. The Arusha-Holili Highway is an extension of the Taveta-Voi, Arusha-Namanga-Athi-River highway in Kenya. The construction of the roads was to boost East African regional trade. The construction project was being executed under the East African Community (EAC).

The road rehabilitation project was also initialized to create another transport corridor linking Northern Tanzania and neighbouring landlocked countries with the port of Mombasa. Construction works were set to start last month.

The road will be made up of a four-lane dual carriageway that connects Arusha City with Holili-Taveta via Moshi and Himo. The Arusha-Holili highway construction project was to be undertaken in two phases. The first phase will see the construction of the 14.2 Km Sakina-Tengeru sections and the 42Km Arusha Bypass Section. In the second phase, 8.1Km of road will be constructed up to Usa River.

Construction Review