JK lashes at inertia in Dar city

By 1914 Dar es Salaam and the surrounding province had a population of 166,000, among them 1,050 Europeans, 1,000 of them Germans. In all of the east African protectorate were 3,579 Germans. In its own right, Dar es Salaam became the showcase city of all of tropical Africa.



Daily News; Thursday,January 29, 2009 @21:15

Jakaya Kikwete has blasted authorities in Dar es Salaam Region for irresponsibility and inertia, saying this left the country’s commercial capital poorly planned, dirty and dangerous. There was corruption in land surveying and allocation of plots, resulting in haphazard construction of houses and encroachment on open spaces, he said.

Mr Kikwete was addressing Dar es Salaam councillors at a dinner they hosted on Wednesday to celebrate achievements of the Fourth Phase Government. He said he was not happy with the state of the city, which is currently characterized with poorly planned construction of high rise buildings.

Garbage was piled up on city streets and the authorities should urgently take measures to make the city clean, he directed. Mr Kikwete lamented that high rise buildings mushrooming in the Central Business District lacked proper drainage, water supply and access routes.

He said congestion in the city could easily be avoided by construction of fly-overs and satellite towns. He told the councillors that the government wanted Dar es Salaam turned into a world-class commercial centre, tourist hub and conference venue.

Earlier, councillors told the president that the city needed about 120 vehicles, 15 tractors, 120 trailers and six bulldozers for speedy and professional collection of garbage.
They said 5bn/- was needed to finalise construction of a modern sanitary landfill at Pugu outskirt. “We ask for the banks to issue soft loans for buying equipment for collection of garbage,” said councilor Ahmed Mwilima, who noted that current capacity could handle only half of the 3,350 tonnes of garbage generated daily.