The consultant for the construction of Bagamoyo Fishery Port in the Coast Region will be availed in September this year, the ministry of livestock and fishery development has revealed.

Public Relation Officer at the ministry Judith Mhina told the Guardian on Sunday mid-week that currently the government is evaluating consultancy bidders for the project to be opened after 90 days.

“We are still evaluating consultancies who showed the interest to bid for the project to evaluate its cost. Consultancy will be opened after 90 days in accordance with the national procurement procedures” she said.

Ms Judith also underscored that the process has followed the laid down procurement rules and regulations saying the consultancy will chart project’s cost paving way to find a firm to execute it.

It was earlier announced that the construction of the Bagamoyo fishery port would have commenced January this year and be completed in 2017.

The project that is expected to boost the country’s economy will have the capacity to handle twenty times more cargo than Dar es Salaam Port, currently the country’s largest port in the country.

Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Servacius Likwelile represented the government during the signing of a Memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the government and the Chinese government which will execute the project at the cost of Sh89bn.

Dr Likwelile said the port would improve the country’s economy especially after various data showing that Tanzania was losing a lot in trade and commerce opportunities due to inefficiency of Dar es Salaam port.

According to the Tanzania’s Ambassador to China Philip Marmo, upon completion, Bagamoyo port will have the capacity to handle 20 million containers annually as opposed to Dar port with the capacity of 800,000 containers.

The much awaited project will also entail the construction of a 34 kilometre road connecting the district and Mlandizi and also a 65 kilometres railway connecting Bagamoyo to the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) and Central Railway line.

“We will be building a fourth generation port of high standard. This port will also facilitate China-bound shipments of minerals from Zambia, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Tanzania and then to China via the Indian Ocean.

Source: IPP Media

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