EACOP oil pumping station nears completion
BUKOBA: CONSTRUCTION of the third oil pumping station on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Muleba District, Kagera Region, nears completion after reaching 88 per cent.
The progress brings the EACOP project closer to operation, with Tanzania expected to earn about US$3.5 billion (approximately 9.2tri/- ) and create more than 18,000 jobs over the next 25 years once the pipeline becomes operational.
PS3 Client Site Representative Dimtry Amalyshev told a visiting delegation from the President’s Office, Ministry of Energy and the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) on Friday that the project had reached an advanced stage.
In Kagera Region, the pipeline will pass through 20 wards, 34 villages and 117 hamlets, with about 2,017 local residents expected to benefit from employment opportunities.
Residents who spoke to this paper welcomed the project, saying it is expected to stimulate economic activity and create new opportunities in the region. Resident of Minziro Village in Missenyi District, Dauda Byombalirwa said the project had been waited for many years and would help speed up development.
“This is a golden opportunity. We have a duty to safeguard the pipeline night and day. Let us all play our role satisfactorily,” he said.
He commended Presidents Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Samia Suluhu Hassan for allowing the pipeline to pass through Tanzania, saying the decision would help accelerate development in the area.
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A teacher at Kaigara Secondary School in Muleba District, Aurelia Domician, said the project would benefit not only salaried workers but also farmers and other wananchi.
“Kagera residents and all Tanzanians in the eight regions where the EACOP pipeline will pass must ensure that it is safeguarded while at the same time taking advantage of the opportunities created by the project,” she said.
The 1,443-kilometre EACOP pipeline will pass through eight regions in Tanzania, namely Kagera, Geita, Shinyanga, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma, Manyara and Tanga.
Tanzania holds a 15 per cent stake in the Hoima– Chongoleani (Tanga) pipeline project and has already invested 259.96bn/- in its implementation. Once completed, EACOP is expected to become the world’s longest heated crude oil pipeline.
