The Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) on Sunday signed ten contracts with local companies on behalf of 969 contracts for the construction of 33,091 kilometres of roads in districts across the country during the 2022/2023 financial year.
The ten construction companies signed the contracts with TARURA on behalf of the 969 contractors at an event witnessed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in the capital Dodoma.
Innocent Bashungwa, the Minister of State in the President’s Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Government, said the contracts to be implemented from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023, will also involve the construction of 269 bridges.
Bashungwa said out of the 33,091 km of roads, 424 km will be constructed to tarmac level, 11,074 km will be built to gravel level and 21,593 km have been earmarked for maintenance, adding that construction of the roads will cost 331.39 billion Tanzanian shillings (about USD142 million).
President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the construction and maintenance of the roads will improve the welfare of Tanzanians living in rural areas.
“With good roads, farmers will be able to transport their agricultural produce to markets and patients, including pregnant women, will be able to move to health centers without encountering any difficulties,” Samia Suluhu.
President Hassan directed TARURA to strictly oversee the construction of the roads to required standards, saying the government was spending a colossal amount of money to improve the country’s infrastructure.
Read also; Tanzania Introduces Fertilizer Subsidy to Relieve Farmers’ Pain.