MWANZA: FIVE out of the nine containers of furniture for the newly built MV Mwanza Hapa Kazi Tu arrived in Mwanza on Monday, paving the way for their installation to begin.
The remaining containers are expected to arrive yesterday, according to the Project Manager, Mr Vitus Mapunda.
He explained that the furniture installation is a month-long process, which is part of the completion of the project, valued at over 100bn/-.
As of now, the project is 96 per cent complete.
“The installation should be finished as soon as possible because the handover of the project to the government, through the relevant shipping company, will take place by the end of May this year,” he said.
The next step will be the ship’s inspection and quality certification by the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation (TASAC), making it ready for use on Lake Victoria.
Ms Amina Ntibampema, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Tanzania Shipping Company Limited (TASHICO), said that the installation of all ship systems, including navigation, engine, and auxiliary machinery, had been completed some time ago.
A three-day trial on Lake Victoria conducted in March last year confirmed that the systems were 100 percent effective.
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“We’ve been waiting for the furniture, which were manufactured in South Korea, to complete the project,” she said.
“The first consignment we received today contains chairs, and the next shipment, which includes beds, is expected soon. This project was supposed to be completed earlier, but we faced several challenges, mainly the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, which affected the transportation of raw materials from outside the country.”
She added, “The challenges continued even after the pandemic, as prices for goods, including shipping containers, increased. The shipbuilding process officially started in 2020 after the contract was signed in 2019.”
MV Mwanza is expected to enhance trade by providing not only reliable but also affordable and efficient transportation for various goods, including agricultural produce and industrial products, across the three East African countries.
On behalf of the Mwanza Regional Commissioner, Nyamagana District Commissioner Ms Amina Makilagi expressed gratitude to the sixth-phase government for its development of the project.
She noted that when President Samia Suluhu Hassan assumed office, the project was at 40 per cent complete, with 30 per cent of the costs paid to the contractor.
Now, 93 per cent of the project costs have been settled.
The ship, with a carrying capacity of 1,200 passengers, 400 tonnes of cargo, and 20 vehicles, is set to operate between Mwanza and other key ports such as Bukoba, Musoma, Kemondo, as well as neighbouring Kenya and Uganda.
