The file photo taken on May 2, 2020, shows the Ubungo interchange under construction in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (Xinhua)
Tanzanian government on Sunday signed contracts with local companies for the construction of 33,091 km of roads across the country during the 2022/2023 financial year.
DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) on Sunday signed 10 contracts with local companies for road construction in districts across the country during the 2022/2023 financial year which began on July 1, 2022, and will end on June 30, 2023.
The 10 contracts are part of the 969 contracts for the construction of 33,091 km of roads and the signing event was witnessed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania.
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.
The file photo taken on May 17, 2020, shows the Ubungo interchange under construction in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. (Xinhua)
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 142 million U.S. dollars).
President 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," she said.
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. ■
