Angela Normino
The Secretary General of the ruling party CCM,Ambassador Emmanuel Nchimbi, has expressed concern about embezzlement in the execution of key development projects, instructing contractors to deliver the projects promptly and according to the necessary standards.
He instructed the contractor responsible for the 60 billion TZS project to build Sumbawanga Airport to deliver the project according to the agreed contractual terms.
The Secretary General of the ruling party gave instructions during his official visit to the Rukwa Region, where he conducted a number of meetings with key party officials in the region and also inspected the ongoing construction of the long-awaited Sumbawanga Airport.
The project was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. However, by yesterday, it had only reached 8%, falling short of the contract’s requirement of 15%.
This indicates a delay of at least 7%. As per the contract, the Sumbawanga project should be finished by March next year.
Speaking after inspecting the implementation of the project, Dr Nchimbi directed the contractor to ensure that the project was completed on time in order to widen base for economic activities in the country’s Southern highlands.
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Dr. Nchimbi instructed project supervisors to uphold their legal responsibilities according to the contracts in all projects. He highlighted that one of the factors causing delays in project completion was corruption, despite the government providing funds punctually.
He emphasized the importance of long-lasting infrastructure, citing a lack of patriotism when projects deteriorate prematurely.
“If we plan for things, we want them stay for at least 40 years and we see them out of usage, then, that is purely lack of patriotism, and sometimes, such situations occur because of Corruption,” he insisted, urging professionals to put the national interests first than selfish gains’
“Make sure that the contracts obligations are abided by and the construction of this airport was now supposed to be at 15 per cent but surprisingly it is only pegged at 8per cent…however, we are satisfied with the bold steps you took to axe the previous supervisors of this project,” he said.
The CCM Secretary General further directed officials of the Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) to intensify supervision in the construction of the Sumbawanga Airport, maintaining that peoples’ development was priority number one for the ruling party.
In his remarks, Engineer Mgeni Mwanga, the TANROADS Rukwa Regional Manager, mentioned that the government intended to allocate approximately 60.1 billion TZS for the implementation of the highly anticipated airport project.
He told the CCM Secretary General that already, the government had taken steps against the contractor including firing two project supervisors who were delaying the implementation of the project.
According to him, so far, the project had employed 120 persons, among them 114 Tanzanian nationals.
