THE secretariat of the East African
Community (EAC) and other stakeholders are meeting here today to discuss
the way forward in the implementation of the largest ever Mwambani
Economic Corridor Project in Tanga Region, estimated to cost
53trillion/-.
Co-director with the company running the
project, Mr Cuthbert Tenga, told the ‘Daily News’ here yesterday that
several key partners and stakeholders in the railways and ports fields
from the EAC region have been invited to attend the discussion.
He said the EAC Deputy Secretary general
(Planning and Infrastructure), Dr Enos Bukuku, was coordinating the
one-day workshop and the participants at the end of their discussions
would come up with recommendations on how to move forward on the
implementation of the project.
The project to involve construction of a
deep sea and free port at Mwambani, in Tanga, and a new heavy haul
standard gauge railway from there, would be operated by MWAPORC, an
acronym for Mwambani Port and Railway Corridor. Already several
international companies from all over the world, in particular from
England, Canada, United States, Scotland, South Africa and the Middle
East, have expressed commitment to inject funding for its smooth
implementation.
According to Mr Tenga, some local giant
companies have also shown interest in participating in the
implementation of the project, including the National Social Security
Fund (NSSF) and National Housing Corporation (NHC).
He said due to the size of the project,
which will entail the construction of a free port, an airport city;
water, gas and oil pipelines to be laid along the railway line and
construction of new railway towns, it may require to be led under the
Prime Minister’s Office instead of the Transport ministry alone.
The Mwambani project, also to involve
construction of a deep sea and free port at Mwambani in the region and a
new heavy haul standard gauge railway, would link the Indian Ocean to
the Atlantic Ocean from Tanzania, through Uganda and Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC). Early last March top officials of MWAPORC met with the
EAC Secretariat in Arusha to present details of the modern, efficient
and cost-effective transport project to get its support and approval so
that it is integrated in the EAC infrastructure master plan.
After the presentation, the EAC
Secretariat resolved that the “Mwambani Economic Corridor Project is a
major regional infrastructure project that has the potential of
fundamentally transforming the economies of east and central Africa.”
Thus, it said, the EAC would support the
project company, MWAPORC, to implement the project in all ways
possible, with the secretary general remarking that implementation of
the project would be a “game changer” for the entire region.
Mr Tenga said during implementation of
the project, the development of a hub Port and free port, coupled with a
heavy haul railway linking Tanzania to the rich markets of east-central
Africa shall result in immense social-economic prosperity for Tanzania.
According to him, “Tanzania shall enjoy a
major economic boom as new railway, port and free port investments
stimulate agro-development, real estate, and manufacturing and shall
create thousands of new jobs and careers”.
He said the new deep sea port will be
designed to have the ability to make Tanzania a direct hub port,
enabling direct shipping from international ports and thus significantly
reducing the cost of logistics to exporters and importers.
Mr Tenga explained further that the free
port at Tanga, which will be constructed adjacent to the new deep sea
port, would host manufacturing, logistics and other service industries
and host key anchor activities, including an integrated iron and steel
manufacturing cluster.
#Source:daily news
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