Kigamboni to have a new ferry in 2008
A new ferry for connecting Kigamboni and Dar es Salaam Central Business District will be assembled within one year`s time in the city, Infrastructure Development Minister Andrew Chenge said yesterday.
By Pascal Shao
A new ferry for connecting Kigamboni and Dar es Salaam Central Business District will be assembled within one year`s time in the city, Infrastructure Development Minister Andrew Chenge said yesterday.
The minister made the disclosure at the Dar es Salaam Port when he was inspecting a new ferry, MV Kilombero.
The ferry will be operating in Kilombero River in Morogoro Region.
MV Kilombero will solve transport problem facing residents of Ulanga and Mahenge suburbs in the region, Chenge said
He observed that the transport problems facing Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam residents who depend on the available pontoons was a temporary one.
Chenge said the government had already got a contractor to assemble a new ferry.
`The new ferry will be ready by April next year,` he explained, admitting that the existing ferry boats in Dar es Salaam – MV Kigamboni and Alina – are in poor condition and would undergo major rehabilitation.
Chenge said that the government would hire one pontoon in June to replace MV Kigamboni for it will be undergoing major maintenance.
MV Sengerema is under rehabilitation in Mwanza, while other ferries in Pangani and Rufiji would also undergo maintenance, he said.
MV Kilombero can carry 50 tonnes of cargo, 50 passengers seated, 50 passengers standing and six vehicles.
The minister said that the ferry has been bought under the maintenance programme of 5 ferries in country funded by the World Bank at a cost of 1.2 bn/-.
Other ferries under the programme are MV Kigamboni, Rifiji, Pangani and Sengerema.
Source: Guardian
