Tanzania Transport Uses Millennium Challenge Funds

According to a statement that was recently released by the US embassy in Tanzania, a contract has been signed to begin the process of upgrading the 65km stretch of road that runs between Tanga and Horohoro, thus marking the first for road of the Tanzania transport system that will be upgraded using finances from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The contract for the upgrades to the road has been awarded to the Sinohydro Corporation Ltd. construction company and is projected to have a total value of almost TZS 69.9 billion.

“This award is the first of six different works contracts for the rehabilitation and upgrading of several mainland trunk roads,” read the US embassy statement.

In addition to the Tanga-Horohoro road, other roads that are scheduled to receive upgrades include the Tunduma-Laela road, the Laela-Sumbawanga road, the Peramiho Junction-Mbinga road and the Songea-Namtumbo road.

According to the US embassy, the awarding of the contract for the construction of the Tanga-Horohoro road comes after three construction supervision contracts that had already been awarded in September 2009.

The embassy went on to indicate that the process of allocating the contracts for the remaining construction projects is already underway, with interest from top quality international firms, who have already successfully surpassed the first procurement phase, thus pre-qualifying them to participate in the second and final bidding stage.

Projections are that the five remaining construction contracts for the Mainland Trunk Roads will be awarded over the next few months.

According to the MCC resident country director, Karl Fickenscher, who spoke during the recent signing function, the move to award the contracts indicates that the parties involved in the project are committed to its implementation and success.

“Until now we have been focused on all the necessary preparations, making sure that we have proper technical designs, running a full, open and transparent competition, and working directly with the people who will be affected by the construction to ensure that their views are heard and appropriate compensation and resettlement are arranged,” said Mr. Fickenscher.

In addition, the country director went on to indicate that the launch of the construction phase of the Compact should have positive results in the new year.

The MCC Compact between the US Government and the Government of Tanzania first came into effect in September 2008 and, in addition to the mainland trunk roads, includes various other projects in the Tanzania transport sector, such as the upgrading of as much as 36 kilometers of rural roads in the Pemba region as well as improvements to the Mafia island airport.

According to the agreement, the US has agree to commit a total of USD 698.1 million through September 2013 for these and other projects, which, in addition to the country’s transport sector, are expected to provide significant assistance to the country’s energy and water sectors as well.