Mpanda-Karema Port Road construction kicks off

KATAVI: THE construction of a road linking Lake Tanganyika and the Kigoma-Katavi Highway has started thanks to the two agreements signed yesterday between the government and contractors.

The 100.28-km asphalt road at the cost of 217.63bn/- will solve the challenge of the poor infrastructure and assure movements of people, commodities and operations of Karema Port.

Equally, the road will also link Kigoma Port and Karema Port through the KigomaKatavi Highway. Katavi’s Tanroads Manager Eng Martin Mwakabende said on Tuesday during the Regional Road Board (RRB) meeting under the chairperson of Regional Commissioner Ms Mwanamvua Mrindoko that the implantation of the project will kick off immediately after the signing.

The project according to Eng Mwakabende has been divided into two lots to hasten the construction. “The road is a link to the two western zone regions  Kigoma and Katavi, to ensure Karema Port is fully utilised to its capacity. Its construction will take two,” said Eng Mwakabende.

The Karema Port’s cargo and passenger terminal kicked off operations in 2022 but is yet to attract sizable users barred by unfriendly road infrastructure.

A boat operator, Mr Rashid Sufian, told ‘Daily News’ that there is need for the government to track the construction of the road to enable local and international traders to utilise the facility accordingly.

“Karema Port is strategically located because it’s a preferred gate-way to domestic and international markets such as Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi,” Mr Sufian said.

Mr Sufian, plies the world’s second deepest and largest freshwater lake, transporting foodstuffs including rice and maize between Kasanga, Kipili, Kabwe and Kibirizi ports, said despite its elegancy and good strategic location, business people find it difficult to use the terminal because of the poor state of the road which links the port to the Katavi-Kigoma Highway.

His sentiments were echoed by George Mwigulu, a cereals trader in Katavi, who said poor road infrastructure is to blame for traders’ hesitance to use elegant Karema Port.

“The port is an easy and short route to cross to Kalemie Port on the eastern part of DRC,” Mr Mwigulu said.

Christina John and Dorothea Kant, who transport foodstuffs to DRC insisted that the rough road was a major stumbling block for the envisaged full-swing operation of Karema Port. “

There is no question that Karema is the best port on Lake Tanganyika but the poor state of the road is the main reason behind people’s hesitation to utilising it,” Ms John said.

Katavi Regional Commissioner Ms Mwanamvua Mrindoko said that several traders and transporters have shown interest in using the strategic port, expressing optimism that the impending construction of the road will boost usage of the terminal.

Karema Port will also be linked with a train powered by electricity to be constructed from Mpanda Town. The standard gauge railway will branch off at Kaliua, Tabora and head to Karema port through Mpanda.