FACELIFT FOR ZANZIBAR ROADS WITH FUNDING FROM THE WORLD BANK

Report By Leo Odera Omolo

The revolutionary government of Zanzibar in conjunction with the world bank is to conduct a feasibility study by collecting data that will form the basis of a road maintenance management system, an information system that potential financiers including the bank consider crucial in road application

According to an engineer in-charge of Zanzibar Roads funds Board, some USD 416,666 and USD 500,000 is needed to acquire a reflective roads maintenance management system that will provide an insight into the true state of the roads in the town islands of Pemba and Unguja respectively.

The later have a 1,600 km long road network.

The world bank as the financier of the study will appoint an independent consulting firm to work with the Zanzibar Roads Fund Board using available data on routine maintenance, rehabilitation, bridge and culvert restoration and maintenance.

The consultant for the work will be identified not later than July and will work on civil engineering works needed for different roads of varying age, designs and usage, said Engineer Hussein Rajabu

The funding will be integrated in the ‘Isles’ budgeting regimes to help planners make realistic forecasts of costs and loans required for consistent road network up keeps

Engineer Rajabu said the study report to be used as a referral and reference point for maintenance of roads, will be formulated as a blueprint to help the Industry of Communications and Transport when making budget estimates and will include annual roads maintenance expenses.

The consultant will also evaluate the relationship of qualities of work with respect to costs and approximate time frame work.

Zanzibar is an associate member of the African Roads Maintenance Funds Association which provides guidelines for proper roads care practices and gives recommendations to lending agencies.

The same autonomous Isles government has taken loans from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa among other leaders to fund road projects whose survival is at stake

Like most countries in the region, the isles are experiencing rapid traffic growth, high levels of vehicle over loading and is prone to seasonal***which affects the roads if regular maintenance is not undertaken.

The Arab Bank of Economic Development of Africa has been involved in a rural roads rehabilitation project recently in the isles at the cost of USD 5 million while the AFDB financed the road upgrade project to build four bridges and 87.43 km of road in Unguja to bituminous standard and supervision of construction works.

The funding will also be used for project audit services and institutional strengthening and capacity building at the Department of Roads and Coordination’s office for donor assisted projects.

A recent world Bank report shows that road maintenance in Zanzibar suffers from severe under funding meaning that most of the primary roads are in poor conditions.

The roads fund was established in 1995 to provide revenue for the Fund

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

Sourced from the EASTAFRICAN and agencies

GREAT NORTH ROAD TO SOURTHEN SUDAN IS WELL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE AND PART OF THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR TRANSPORT SYSTEM

Report by Leo Odera Omolo.

The construction of the 500km – long Great North Road network is a head of schedule and could b before the deadline of 2010.

The road, part of the Northern corridor Pan-African Highway that links Southern to the Kenyan coastal port of Mombasa runs from Malaba on the Kenya- Uganda border to Nimule, a small border town straddling Uganda and Sudan.

The work is supposed to be complete by November 2010, but given the speed at which the contractors are working, we expect them to complete it much earlier, a seminar official with the Uganda National Road Authority Mr. Dan Alinange was quoted last week as saying

The official said that between Malaba and Saroti in Eastern Uganda, the road only require rehabilitation, which will be done in the Soroti and Lira in northern Uganda is under construction at a cost of USD 86.5 million, with the funds coming from the World Bank

A further USD 56.5 million will be used to complete to of retch Nimule.

The Great North Road is also expected to ease access to Kisangani in Eastern Congo (DRC) via Arua, west of the River Nile

The world Bank funding is based on a project appraisal done in 2007 that showed that the Great North Road will have positive role of returns of between 12 and 16 per cent, another Engineer working with National Roads Authority said that when the study was done in 2007, the rate of 350 vehicles, even though it was almost impassable.

The Authority awarded two contractors for Soroti-Dikolo and Dikolo- Lira, considered the worst sections, to a China Road and Bridge Corporation. These two sections are being built concurrently in the current financial year, and were allocation USD 617 million.

“Contract for both sections were awarded to China Road and Bridge Corporation after the contractor demonstration the capacity to undertake both contracts to date, the contractor has complete mobilization for the first contract and is working on two fronts ”

“A great good progress has been registered and there is reason to expect timely completion of the section the contractors has also substantially mobilized on the second sections” said another official Peter Ssebanaketa of the Uganda National Roads Authority said in recent interview with East African.

The Uganda government has contracted the South Africa firm Burrow Ltd to monitor the performance of the contractor as part of quality control to ensure adherence to the specifications of the project, monitoring the contractors’ resources and rate progress and directing activities for contract completion within specified periods

Burrow Ltd will also carry out xxx control measures within the provision in the contract agreement

Inside Sudan, xxxxx are planning to surface the road from Juba to Nimule and a contractor is already, doing the design work when includes the 200 metric Aswa Bridge that the Sudanese people’s Liberation army (SPLA) men up during the 21 years old motivated war between the North and Southern part of the country.

The Northen corridor, also known as the regions “economic corridor” is a transport route linking the land locked areas Lakes countries of Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda to Kenya’s sea port of Mombasa

The corridor which, also serves northern Tanzania, facilitates transport regional integration, trade investment and economic development. Most sections of the road are in poor condition, resulting in high transport costs for road users and low revenue collection because of low rates of returns and designs

“The roads are very important in economic development. Each road has its benefits. For example on the road connecting Uganda to Sudan, we have been losing money in the tune of USD 10 million of year,” Dan Dlinange of the Road Authority

Works on other ports of the Northern corridor from Malaba to Katana, funded by the European Union, are in progress and will sea the xxxxx upgraded to dual carriageway

According to the official website of Kenya Ministry of Road and Works, the progress of the Northern Corridor Transport improvement project is promising with several ports already completed.

The rehabilitation work from Mombasa to Nakuru, for instance is complete, while the Nakuru-Malaba road awaits tendering process

Leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

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The story is sourced from EAST AFRICAN Kenya’s Road and Work Ministry and Agencies

KENYA AND UGANDA AGREE TO BUILD A NEW JOINT RAILWAY LINE

Business News By Leo Odera Omolo

A new Kenya-Uganda railway will be built after the Rift Valley railway (RVR) failed to improve railway transport in the region

Kenya and Uganda government in the next three month to construct a new high capacity and speed standard gauge railway from Mombasa to Kampala with a branch to Kisumu of Kshs 3.5 million.

The new line will operate concurrently with the existing metre gauge being operated by RVR

“We want to built a modern standard gauge railway line because we have encountered numerous problems with the old railway even after concession,” said Kenya Prime Minister Raila Odinga in a speech delivered during the inaugural Joint Commission meetings on the new line

The decision to build a new line means the two railway network is at rock bottom

And although they have toyed with the idea of canceling the concession, it means building another line is a more viable option than restoring the existing dilapidated network at a cost of KSM 37.5 billion over a period of five year

RVR, which entered the same in late 20 has come repeated eroticism for running down the railway network and causing a cargo mile-up at the Mombasa port.

Although the existing railway has a capacity of five million tones of goods a year, the holding capacity has continued to decline accounting for less than six per cent of freight movement in the northern corridors

The commission may be the daring force and policy organ for the implementation of the standards gauge railway project from Mombasa to Kampala and the branch to Kisumu.

The authority shall provide political leadership, policy direction, resources mobilization and oversight by 2007 the performance is extremely poor considering the Mombasa port is currently handling in excess of 160 million tones of cargo per annum

With traffic growth at the part expected to reach 30 million tones by 2030, the need transport system that ensure goods leave the port as soon as possible as they are cleared has become paramount.

“In Uganda we are concerned by the high cost of transportation of the that and the construction of the liners long overdue,” said Transport Minister John Nasasira

According to me project plans of the well liner, the signing of the bilateral agreement by end of March this year should pave the way for instituting a joint development and implementation.

The world includes undertaking of fuel feasibility study for 12 months at a cost of USD 750 million.

Kenya would spend Kshs 600 million and Uganda Ush 150 million. Both governments should factor the money in their 2009-2010 budgets

Prime Minister Raila and transport Minister Nasasira however, dispute the need for a feasibility study, terming it a waste of time and resources, “We spend so much money on feasibility studies that sometimes project are not implemented” noted the PM

Ironically the two governments are banking on the financial of the project and attract formidable and experienced investors to finance the decision and construction of the line.

The investors, who should ensure the line is fully operational by 2017, would run their investment and make a fair return on completion of that period the investor would transfer back the infrastructure to the two governments

Ends

Leooderaomolo@yahoo.com

– – –
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 07:36:14 -0800 [01/08/2009 09:36:14 AM CST]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: FACELIFT FOR ZANZIBAR ROADS WITH FUNDING FROM THE WORLD BANK