Majaliwa: Govt readying funds for new ships, planes

 
The government has started collecting funds that will be used to buy a new passenger and cargo ship in Lake Victoria, according Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.

Majaliwa unveiled the government’s mission on Sunday in Bukoba Municipality, Kagera Region, in his three-day official tour, where among other things he is expected to work on issues related to refugees. The PM is also expected to inspect ranches that are under the ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

“President John Magufuli is walking his talk; hence plans of buying a new ship remain intact. We are going to buy a passenger and cargo ship in Lake Victoria as the president promised during his campaign rallies,” Majaliwa said.

Apart from the plan of buying the ship, the Premier also said the government was set to buy two new planes to boost the air transport sector in the country. “We are determined to buy two new planes as a starting point of revamping Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL). We have asked our colleagues who are conversant with the airline industry to come back home and help run our national airline,” he noted.

The Premier said the process of purchasing the two passenger planes was at an advanced stage and would soon start bearing fruits.

He also used the platform to inform people of Kagera Region that very soon the government would start constructing the crude oil pipeline which is expected to pass through the coffee and banana rich region, in a project expected to create thousands of jobs.

He said construction of the pipeline would start from Tanga, through Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Manyara, Simiyu, Geita, Kagera and Uganda. 

“This project will create employment opportunities for people living along the pipeline as well as those who will be operating centres that will be built to pump oil to Uganda.”