Dar facelift lifts lives

DAR ES SALAAM residents are enjoying improved urban transport services on improved road networks as a major project to uplift the city’s infrastructure nears completion.

Residents from the city’s outskirts can now reach the Central Business District easier thanks to a World Bank-funded Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP), which is transforming the country’s commercial city and East Africa’s business hub.

A cross-section of the residents told the `Daily News’ that the DMDP is improving their lives by enabling them to perform their daily economic activities easier whether it rains or not.

Ernest Nathaniel, a resident of Ulongoni near Gongo la Mboto in Ilala district who is working at Mikocheni Industrial area, said before construction of two bridges at Ulongoni under the DMDP, life of Ulongoni dwellers was miserable.

He said before the project, particularly during the rainy season, he could not go to work since the water storms blocked all pedestrian and car roads.

“It was difficult to perform our daily activities during the rainy season due to floods but currently these bridges help us a lot …now we can smoothly conduct our economic activities regardless of weather, since even daladala are starting routes from Mbezi terminal,” Mr Ernest stressed

As one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, Dar es Salaam is expected to become a mega city by 2030 with a population of over 10 million.

Rapid growth of the city is also contributing to the presence of unplanned housing estimated between 70 and 80 per cent.

The impact of the floods is also expected to increase due to such rapid growth of the city and the impact of climate change.

Rainfall is increasingly accumulating in low-lying areas and some waterways such as the Msimbazi now have very little ability to absorb even moderate rainfall events, affecting infrastructure, transport and people’s lives.

The Dar es Salaam City Engineer, John Chacha told the ‘Daily News’ during an exclusive interview that the DMDP execution has reached at least 97 per cent and it is expected to be completed in December 2022.

Eng Chacha said so far, the tarmac roads have been constructed in many parts of the city along with flood control and stormwater drainages, built bridges as well as installed solar street lights in Dar es Salaam districts.

In Temeke Municipality, Eng Chacha said four modern markets have been constructed in Kilakala, Yombo Vituka , Kijichi and Mbagala Kuu under the DMDP.

There is also a bus station built in Mbagala Kuu.

“In Ilala district DMDP also constructed Ulongoni bridges and Kinyerezi bus stand to make people’s movements easier,” he said.

According to Eng Chacha, the project constructed various infrastructures to mitigate the impacts of floods, and preserve the environment in the city by building stormwater drainage.

Ms Farida Hussein, one of the beneficiaries of the DMDP project from Mtoni Kijichi in Temeke District, said construction of the street road under the DMDP project has lifted the status of Kijichi and Mbagala Kuu suburbs and helped the residents to conduct economic activities at night.

“With the presence of road street lights…now I can sell my fruit on the roadsides … I am no longer using kerosene lamps anymore,” Ms Farida said

“The feeder roads constructed by the DMDP also have cleared the way for transport activities in our areas since recently we have Kariakoo, Temeke and Tandika routes for daladala,” she says.

Daladala is a name for Dar es Salaam city’s commuter buses.

She further added that currently she can save time and money by shopping for food products from the new Kijichi market constructed by the DMDP since before the project she used to go toTemeke stereo market.

In late July, World Bank Group – Country Operations Manager Ms Preeti Arora said over the last decade, the World Bank has provided over 1 billion US dollars in investments in urban infrastructure in Dar es Salaam and other cities throughout the country, whilst over 3.6 million people across Dar es Salaam are directly benefiting from improved infrastructure.

Ms Arora made a statement during a two-day technical workshop on greening infrastructure for the future of Dar es Salaam organised by Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) through the Dares Salaam Metropolitan Development Project (DMDP)

“Through the project, President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) and Local Government Authorities (LGAs) have constructed 205 kilometres of roads, including provision of over 5,000 solar street lights and pedestrian walkways; 59 kilometres of primary and secondary storm water drains; nine modern markets; and two daladala bus terminals,” she said

She added that DMDP, an ongoing project at the cost of 300 million US dollars and co-financed with Nordic Development Fund, has helped address the priority infrastructure needs of Dar es Salaam

Ms Arora further noted that, based on WB estimates, climate change may push over 130 million people into poverty by 2030 and cause over 200 million people to migrate within their own countries by 2050. She said that cities are at the forefront of these impacts

Upgrading of urban transport through infrastructure development is among government priorities in implementation of the Third National Five-year Development Plan (FYDP III; 2021/22 – 2025/26).

The government is focused to ensure land tenure security to economic agents and promote planned and serviced urban settlements with functioning town planning procedures, including improved solid and liquid waste management, use of sustainable transport and cleaner energy.

Key Interventions to critical implications of rapid urban population growth on settlements include promoting and facilitating planning, surveying and titling of land parcels for investment and human settlement, preparing urban, islands and coastal development master plans.