PM tables 350.99bn/- budget estimates

• Requests 181.8bn/- for Parliament

DODOMA: THE PRIME Minister, Kassim Majaliwa on Wednesday tabled in Parliament 350.99bn/- budget for his office and other institutions under his docket for the 2024/2025 financial year.

The Premier also tabled in the August House 181.8bn/- for Parliament Fund for the next financial year.

The new budget will focus on enhancing effectiveness in production sectors such as agriculture, livestock, fisheries and industries, he said. Mr Majaliwa said out of the proposed budget, about 146.4bn/-, is for recurrent and the remaining 204.6bn/- for development budget.

Meanwhile, the PM asked the National Assembly to give a green light to proposed 181.8bn/- for the Parliament budget, of which 172.1bn/- will be for recurrent and 9.7bn/- for development expenditure.

Presenting estimates for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and parliament fund, Mr Majaliwa explained how the government had made tremendous strides in implementing several development projects in this financial year 2023/24, among them, attracting and strengthening the country’s investment portfolio.

Premier Majaliwa revealed that President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration has so far spent trillions of shillings in the implementation of various projects that are meant to strengthen business and investment.

“The government has continued to implement crucial flagship projects especially infrastructures including railway, roads airports, social services and energy, which have significant contribution to the country’s economy and national development,” he said.

The money spent on the central railway projects (1,219-kilometres) considering international standards accounts for 10.69tri/-.

According to him, the first lot of standard gauge railway from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro (300 kilometres) was currently at 98.84 per cent. He said once commissioned for service, the SGR trains would operate at an average speed of 160km per hour, thus cutting the time between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro to about two hours from the current four-hour journey by buses and five hours by train on the old metre-gauge railway.

The Premier added the Morogoro – Makutopora section of the standard gauge railway (422 km) is at 99.35 per cent completion rate, whereas the Mwanza – Isaka (km 341) section has been constructed for about 52.69 per cent. The construction for the Makutupora – Tabora section (371 km) has reached 13.86 per cent.

According to the Prime Minister, the construction of the Tabora – Isaka section (165 km) had reached 5.38 per cent and the Tabora-Kigoma section (506 km) was at 1.81per cent.

“Also, procedures to have a consultant and contractor for Uvinza-Musongati-Gitega (km282) are still underway, and as you witnessed the tests that done on the envisaged train went very well in February 2024 and we expect that come July 2024, transport services between Dar es Salaam-Dodoma will effectively kick off,” he added.

Other development projects, according to Premier Majaliwa, that are implemented and meant to instigate and attract both local and international businesses include the improvement of various airports in the country as well as the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) that expects to pump into the national grid about 2,115 Megawatts of electricity.

The JNHPP project according to Mr Majaliwa stands at 96.1 per cent of its implementation. Another project according to him is the construction of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) from Hoima in Uganda to Chongoleani in Tanga Region and that as of March 2024 the government had already paid 34.93bn/- in compensation to about 9,828 residents out of a total of 9,904 who are entitled to compensation.

Besides, the government was implementing yet another project, the Mkulazi Sugar Factory in Morogoro, owned jointly by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Prison Corporation Sole (PCS), at a cost of 320bn/-.

Its construction was at 99 per cent and according to the PM and as of March 2024, the factory had produced 1,851 tonnes of sugar which have increased sugar supply in the country.

Mr Majaliwa further took time to ask clerics from across the country to continue praying for the nation as it prepares for this year’s civic polls.

“I also ask all Tanzanians to participate fully in the preparations for the elections and exercise their democratic right during elections,” he said.