Announcement of Three Million Dollar Credit for Roads in Tanzania on March 6, 1968

;e INTERNATIONAL DEVELO?I',rnNT 1\SSOCIATION 1818 H STREET. N.W .. WASHINGTON ;JC. 2S.:~32 .,-·::::..E::> 1-:0;.i:: '.:::Xi=:CUTIVE' 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 68/4 Subject: $3 million credit for roads March 6, 1968 in Tanzania A credit of $3 million to Tanzania, announced today by the International Development Associati,on (IDA), will assist in carrying forward a road project for which the Association granted a credit of $14 million in 1964. Tanzania has about 10,000 miles of main roads which link provincial centers and connect with neighboring countries. The quality of the roads is, however, very uneven, and there are long stretches of unpaved sections between towns. The roads to be improved are important to production and trade as they serve areas now producing cash crops or with a potential for agriculture, the mainstay of the • economy. Detailed engineering, which was included in the original project and which is now normally required for road projects prier to the granting of IDA credits, re- vealed that the road work would be more extensive and costly than had been esti- mated on the basis of preliminary engineering, and that some changes were de- sirable in the original project. The revised project involves the construction of six sections of main roads totaling 533 miles in length; detailed engineering of a seventh 142-mile section of main road and of 210 miles of feeder roads; and a staffing and training program for the Roads and Aerodromes Division of the Ministry of Communications, Labour and Works, which has responsibility for execution of the project. About half the construction work has been finished and all of it is scheduled • for completion by mid-1971. of $22.8 million. The total cost estimate now amounts to the equivalent The two IDA credits will cover 75% of the costs; the remainder will be met by the Go·,ernment of Tanzania. /more  - 2 - • The IDA crecit will be for a term of 50 years. It will be free of interest, but will carry a service charge of 3/4 of 11 per annum to meet IDA's administra- tive costs. Three of the roads being improved are part of the main road system which radi- ates from the capital, Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean. Two of them will provide an all-weather paved route between Dar es Salaam and the agricultural area around Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as better connections with the port of Tanga and with Nairobi in Kenya. The third, between Dar es Salaam and Kibiti to the south, serves an area of established agriculture with a large capacity for increased production of rice, fruits and vegetables to feed the fast growing population of the capital. A fourth road is a section of the southern trunk route whi.ch extends from Mtwara on the Indian Ocean inla11d to Mbamba Bay on Lake Malawi. The fifth road runs from Uyole to Itungi Port at the northern end of Lake Malawi-·- the main route for the transport of foodstuffs for the large number of laborers on the tea and coffee ~ plantations in the Southern Highlands. The sixth road extends from Kolondotd to Bariadi in the vicinity of Lake Victoria in the north. The original project called for the engineering and construction of a 104-mile section between Morogoro and Iringa. This is part of the route between Dar es Salaam and Zambia, now known as the Tanzam Highway. Because of extra- ordinary increase in Zambian transit traffic, it was decided to redesign the road to somewhat higher standards, consistent with plans for adjoining sections. The IDA credit announced today includes funds for the detailed engineering of this section to the higher standards and an additional 38 miles as well. The engineering is expected to be completed within a few months. At that time an application from the Government of Tanzania for an IDA credit for construction • will be considered.