THE government is addressing the shortage of housing for army officers in the country, by using locally available skills and manpower, which is less costly.
Minister for Defence and National Service Stergomena Tax insisted that developing housing for armed cadres and soldiers will be a central task for the government.
She said this in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, when she inspected ongoing rehabilitation of the Tanzania People Defence Force (TPDF) Mwenge flat quarters, which has 14 separate buildings, housing 240 households.
“These residential flats are undergoing major rehabilitations at the cost of 4.2bn/- and this has been affordable because we are using a force account than relying on independent contractors who sometimes inflate the costs of projects,” said minister Tax.
She added that TPDF has used its internally available skilled labor force to carry out the project and that such methods will be adopted in all other projects undertaken by the military.
Welcoming the minister, TPDF’s Head of Engineering and Logistics activities Brigadier General Hawa Kodi said that rehabilitation Mwenge flat quarters have reached 62 per cent and the work is anticipated to be completed by November this year.
She said that the major work is being carried out by army officers, a move which has led to cutting down costs.
However, she said there are still some challenges they faced in carrying out the project which has led to cost surges, including high prices of construction materials.
Brig Gen Kodi also said that already, two flats have been completed and reoccupied by its former residents and that remaining flats are expected to be completed in three coming months.
According to her, this is the first major renovation to be carried out since Mwenge flat quarters were built in 1972.
