THE government will set aside 6.44tr/-, an equivalent of 32.8 per cent of the 2014/15 budget for development to finance major railway and road infrastructure projects and expand the agriculture and energy sectors to spur growth.

Presenting the State of the Economy Report in Parliament today, a Minister for State in the President's Office (Social Relations and Coordination), Mr Stephen Wasira said a total of 4.4tr/-, which is equivalent to 68.7 per cent of the development budget, will come from domestic sources.

To fill up the gap, the government expects a total of 2.02tr/- from outside sources being grants and loans. The amount is 33.7 per cent of the development budget, he said.

The minister said that from the funds to be obtained from domestic sources, a total of 1.289tr/- will be set aside for projects under the Big Results Now initiative where the energy sector will take 18 per cent being the largest share.

It will be followed by the construction sector which will take 13 per cent of the funds, education (9 per cent), water (9 per cent) and transportation (7 per cent).

Mr Wasira said the government had focused on rural electrification projects, completion of construction of the 512-kilometre gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam which is set to scale up the amount of gas transported to Dar es Salaam plants for electricity generation and supply for the country.

He said the government was also focused on Kinyerezi power generating stations that will generate 150 and 240 megawatts. Other projects prioritized by the government in the 2014/15 include Mchuchuma coal project set to generate 600 megawatts of electricity, Ngaka coal project which is projected to generate 400 megawatts of electricity, and Kiwira set to generate 200 megawatts of power.

The minister said the government would continue to improve access to water supplies in rural areas and complete projects that began in the 2013/14 financial year.

He said the government would complete laying of water pipelines from Ruvu station to Dar es Salaam which is about 20.77 kilometres and would begin construction of water infrastructure for Upper Ruvu water project.

On the railway infrastructure projects, the government would also upgrade the 37 kilometres Igalula-Tabora railway by laying concrete railway sleepers of 80 pounds per yard, he said. Eight locomotives would be rehabilitated at the Tanzania Railway Limited (TRL) workshop at Morogoro, he said, adding eleven new locomotives and 204 new cargo wagons would be bought.

The government would be looking for strategic investors for construction and improvement of Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali railway, he said. He added that the government would complete survey for Tanga-Arusha- Musoma railway and complete detailed survey for Mtwara-Mbambabay and Liganga- Mchuchuma.

Mr Wasira said on road infrastructure projects, areas that have been prioritized include roads linking Tanzania and her neighbours so as to open up economic opportunities as well as roads that will ease traffic. View the discussion thread.

Source : allafrica.com

Posted on : 30 Nov,-0001