TARURA scales up rural road maintenance for year-round accessibility

MWANZA: THE Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) is scaling up a community-driven road maintenance programme aimed at improving year-round road accessibility while creating income opportunities for local groups involved in routine upkeep of infrastructure.

The Community-Based Routine Maintenance (CBRM) initiative, which is being implemented across selected regions, was highlighted yesterday during a training session for TARURA management, regional managers and procurement officers held in Mwanza.

Opening the training, TARURA Head of Environmental and Social Management Unit, Dr Haledeus Makene, said the model will strengthen local ownership of infrastructure while ensuring roads remain passable throughout the year.

He said the programme empowers communities to form groups responsible for maintaining roads in their areas, enabling residents to directly benefit economically while also protecting infrastructure.

“We want communities to own the roads in their areas. The groups formed will come from within those communities and carry out routine maintenance regularly, becoming custodians of the infrastructure while also improving their livelihoods,” Dr Makene said.

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CBRM Coordinator, Engineer Richard Missa, said the three-year programme is being implemented in 70 councils across 25 regions, targeting routine maintenance of about 15,000 kilometres of roads. He noted that about 7,000 kilometres have already been covered since the programme began.

He said the initiative focuses on activities such as clearing vegetation, cleaning and opening drainage systems, and maintaining culverts to ensure roads remain safe and usable even during rainy seasons.

National Programme Coordinator from the International Labour Organization, Dampu Ndenzako, commended the Government through TARURA for building capacity in implementing the programme, saying it will improve road reliability while increasing income for participating community groups.