BY CORRESPONDENT
10th April 2013
Projects worth USD698m have so far been implemented under the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact with Tanzania five years after the pact was inked.
The projects are aimed at rehabilitating and expanding the country’s water, energy and road infrastructure.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy yesterday, Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt and the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Yohannes are on a five-day trip to Zanzibar, Dodoma and Tanga to inspect the recently completed projects with support from the American people.
Yohannes, who held talks with President Jakaya Kikwete on Monday, underscored the MCC’s commitment to partner with Tanzanians to promote development.
Upon his arrival in Tanzania, Yohannes said: “For the past five years Tanzania and MCC have partnered to complete the projects that make up over USD698m. These projects are expected to reduce poverty through economic growth by investing in three key sectors: transportation, water and energy. September will mark the official completion of Tanzania’s MCC compact and I have returned ahead of that important date to celebrate the progress that has been made.”
Yohannes will be joined by Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohammed Shein to celebrate MCC’s USD50m Zanzibar energy project that includes the installation of a 36-km, 100MW submarine transmission cable from the mainland to the Island of Unguja.The projects are aimed at rehabilitating and expanding the country’s water, energy and road infrastructure.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy yesterday, Ambassador Alfonso Lenhardt and the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Yohannes are on a five-day trip to Zanzibar, Dodoma and Tanga to inspect the recently completed projects with support from the American people.
Yohannes, who held talks with President Jakaya Kikwete on Monday, underscored the MCC’s commitment to partner with Tanzanians to promote development.
Upon his arrival in Tanzania, Yohannes said: “For the past five years Tanzania and MCC have partnered to complete the projects that make up over USD698m. These projects are expected to reduce poverty through economic growth by investing in three key sectors: transportation, water and energy. September will mark the official completion of Tanzania’s MCC compact and I have returned ahead of that important date to celebrate the progress that has been made.”
The activity also includes the construction of substations and overhead lines to evacuate and distribute the power in Zanzibar. The submarine interconnector cable was successfully laid in November 2012 and complementary investments were completed in March 2013.
Regarding the Zanzibar cable, Ambassador Lenhardt noted: “Every Zanzibari realises the importance of an adequate and reliable power supply for this island. It is not only an essential foundation for economic growth and prosperity but it is fundamental to the very health and well being of every resident of Zanzibar.”
In addition to the Zanzibar cable, the MCC has invested nearly USD130m to rehabilitate existing electricity distribution infrastructure for unserved areas in seven mainland regions.
This activity is addressing the growing demand and the corresponding strain on the network to deliver reliable and quality power to industrial and commercial users, as well as to households in these regions.
An American company, Pike Electric, completed the Dodoma work in late 2012 with 800 kms of power lines, 12,000 utility poles and 84 transformers installed in the region.
The MCC Compact’s transport sector project will rehabilitate and upgrade over 400 kms of trunk roads in mainland Tanzania, as well as 35 kms of rural roads on the Island of Pemba in Zanzibar.
Improved roads will help connect communities with schools and health clinics and promote the expansion of economic opportunities by reducing transport costs and thus increasing the incomes of farmers.
The Tanga to Hororo road is 65km running from Tanga to the border with Kenya.
Completed in October 2012, the Tanga-Hororo road was the first major MCC Compact activity to be finished.
President Kikwete, Ambassador Lenhardt and Yohannes laid the foundation stone in Tanga to commemorate the beginning of construction in May 2010.
The five-year USD698m Agreement between Tanzania and USA was signed in February 17, 2008.
The Compact will end in September 17, 2013 and as it enters the final months of implementation several major activities have been completed and others are nearing completion.
In December 2012, the MCC Board of Directors named Tanzania eligible to begin the process of developing a second Compact which is now in its very early organisational planning stages.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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