DAR ES SALAAM: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has urged local engineers to exploit opportunities in the construction projects, as the country continues to set favourable atmosphere for them to grow.
He made the remarks in Dar es Salaam on Thursday while opening the 20th Annual Engineers Day, organised by the Engineers Registration Board (ERB), bringing together the professionals from across the country.
“The government upholds its commitment on local engineers’ inclusion in the construction sectors and citizens upscaling through implementation of the National Third Five Year Development Plan (FYDP III) that focuses on reducing unemployment from nine per cent to eight per cent by 2026,” the PM said.
Mr Majaliwa said currently the government is executing strategic development projects in various sectors including roads, railways, ports and airports expansion, which offer a stunning fair playing ground for local engineers to perform and therefore fostering engineering profession excellence in the country.
“I know that for many years we have been working on widening the scope for engineers to build confidence; it is time now to fully utilise the available opportunities,” Mr Majaliwa said.
He noted that engineers should be confident with their competence and knowledge they acquired at schools to take lead in building the country’s infrastructures thus securing jobs and earning income for economic growth.
Highlighting vivid examples, Mr Majaliwa said in construction of tarmac roads across the country there is the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) responsible for construction of roads in towns and villages noting that local engineers can replace the aforementioned road agency in carrying out the projects.
He directed TARURA to identify competent local engineers and devise a good system which will enable them to undertake those projects.
Moreover, he said the government through the ministry of works will set out experimental projects for women engineers who have established construction companies to demonstrate their competence saying the move is a gate way to job creations.
Mr Majaliwa said the government so far has disbursed funds for major strategic development projects such as the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Plant (JNHPP), construction of the state-of-the-art New MV Mwanza Hapa Kazi Tu, the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) as well as construction of the country’ capital city in Dodoma region, that all involve local engineers.
Nevertheless, He thanked all local engineers who have been participating in the strategic projects, alongside foreign engineers, as such interactions and partnerships provide a room for transfer of technologies for development of the construction sector in the country.