GOVERNMENT TO LAUNCH MASTER PLANS FOR MAJOR CITIES

Master plans for the cities of Mwanza and Arusha will be launched this month, while that of Dar es Salaam is expected to be finalised soon.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Dr Moses Kusiluka, told the ‘Daily News’ over the weekend that the ministry was committed in ensuring that all cities and towns have in place a comprehensive master plan.

“The master plan for the cities of Arusha and Mwanza are ready and will soon be launched in the next one month…. I think it will be before September,” he said. Dr Kusiluka pointed out that many other towns’ master plans have been launched including Mtwara and Iringa while that of Singida will be launched soon.

“Dar es Salaam city master plan is almost done, there is a contractor doing the job and it will soon be ready …….. I can’t say when exactly but it should be complete this year.

We have many plans in many areas and the master plan for Dodoma will be reviewed so that it can go well with the speed of expansion, caused by the move by the government to put up residential and office buildings there,” he said.

In another development, Dr Kusiluka noted that the ministry has already taken aerial pictures of Dar es Salaam for planning purposes.

He added that the exercise was done under the programme known as Integrated Land Management Information System (ILMIS) which has been extended to Coast Region.

“We have taken aerial images of Dar es Salaam and Coast Regions, we will have all the areas in a computerised system under ILMIS and we have a department here dealing with the matter,” he said.

He added that such pictures will be potential for planning and survey as well as earmarking areas that are prone to floods among others. In June last year, stakeholders from both Ilemela and Nyamagana municipalities endorsed the Mwanza City Master Plan which seeks to expand it as the second largest business and commercial hub of the country by the year 2035. The Master Plan targets to make Mwanza the modern destination and business hub of the Great Lakes Region.

The multi-billion project includes a total planning area of 437 square kilometres with proposed detailed schematic infrastructure showing modern water supply, waste and storm water, power supply and ICT strategic network being included.

Others include proposed detailed land use plans, schematic transportation plan, road network, road hierarchy, mass transportation and freight movement system, among others.

The master plan for Arusha will cover the entire city council, parts of Arusha District Council and Meru District Council. The plan takes into account the current development trend in the city and a conscious decision to limit urban sprawl and safeguard the unique biodiversity footprint surrounding the area.

The boundary for the Master Plan stretches from Kisongo and Ngaramtoni in the west up to Tuvaila (Maji ya Chai ward) in the east. Towards the southern boundary it extends until Terrat.

Daily News