Vehicle assembly plant takes shape

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The plant is a brainchild of Ursus and the income generating arm of the national service, Suma JKT and will be capable of assembling 2,000 tractors annually

Juma Mtanda The Citizen Correspondent

Morogoro. The construction of a vehicle and truck assembling plant at Ruvu in Coast Region will be completed in January 2016, sending a ray of hope to millions of Tanzanian farmers who still depend on a hand hoe for their agricultural undertakings.

The plant is a brainchild of the Poland-based Ursus and the income generating arm of the national service, Suma JKT. The plant has a design capacity of assembling 2,000 tractors per year, according to Ursus director of business and sales Wajciech Zachorowski.

“Our aim is to make sure that Tanzanian farmers get tractors and their spare parts right from the country’s soil so that farmers can grow enough and turn agriculture into a serious economic undertaking,” he told journalists who visited the Suma JKT pavilion during the ongoing Eastern Zone Nane Nane Show - which is held annually to commemorate the Farmers’ Day – at the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Grounds yesterday.

Zachorowski said the company will set up centres at various locations so as to enable farmers to get access to spare parts and service their tractors whenever necessary. The number of tractors to be assembled at Ruvu will be enough to meet local and export markets.

The decision to set up an assembling plant in the country was arrived at after the company explained to Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda on the benefits of having such a facility.

It is also expected that the plant will have some trickle down effects.