Singida Region expects to spend over 8.9bn/- on the maintenance of roads in the 2012/2013 financial year.

TANROADS Regional Manager, Yustaki Kangolle

Presenting his tentative budget before  the Regional Road Board meeting here on Monday, TanRoads Regional Manager, Engineer Yustaki Kangolle, said TANROADS has forwarded the budget of 8,495.3m/- to the Ministry of Works for approval.

Engineer Kangolle said 3,003.6m/- out of the amount would be spent on maintenance of 602.9 kms and the construction of five bridges, while 5,491.7m/- would be used for repair of 1,127.1 kms and the construction of  15 bridges.

According to Engineer Kangolle, 1.3bn/- would be used on general maintenance, 3.8bn/- on periodic maintenance, 1.3bn/- on spot improvements while 1.9bn/ will be dished out for the construction of various bridges.

Meanwhile, the TanRoads Regional Manager disclosed that over 4.4bn/- was spent between July last year and April this year on maintenance of various roads in the region and out of the allocated amount of 6.7bn/- during the 2011/2012.

The area covered so far, he explained, was equivalent to 66 per cent of the total budget. Engineer Kangolle listed some of the persisting challenges facing his department as the misuse of tarmac roads by some negligent users, uprooting of beacons and stealing of road signposts.

Earlier, while opening the meeting, Singida Regional Commissioner, Dr Parseko Kone insisted that the ban he imposed on metal scrap business has not been lifted at all. He directed the Regional Police Commander to ensure the ban is implemented.

By ABBY NKUNGU, Tanzania Daily News

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