President John Magufuli yesterday laid the foundation stone for the construction of Rufiji Hydropower Dam, indicating the official commencement of project implementation.
Accompanied by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, Deputy Speaker, Dr Tulia Ackson, ministers, heads of security organs and officials from the Egyptian government, President Magufuli said Tanzanians should walk with pride and joy as the future was bright in terms of energy availability and reliability.
He told a large multitude that Tanzania was a free country to decide whatever was beneficial to its citizens, saying no one, institution or nation had the right to decide anything on its behalf.
He said the noises from some individuals and world bodies that the project would have negative consequences for Selous’ ecosystem had nothing more than to discourage the government from implementing the crucial project that would contribute to economic growth.
He proved wrong the prophets of doom, who were claiming that the government had no the wherewithal to finance the project, insisting that the money was readily available.
Minister of Energy, Dr Medard Kalemani, said the implementation of the first ever mega Rufiji Hydropower Project was on course and the government had already paid 1.007tri/- and expected to be completed in June 2022.
He said this yesterday during the launch of Rufiji Hydropower Project where President John Magufuli laid the foundation stone and said once completed it would be named Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam.
“The contractor has already spent six months out of 42 months set for the implementation of the project and the work is in good progress with the expectation of meeting the deadline,” he said.
Dr Kalemani noted that the dam would be the first in the East African region, the 4th in Africa and 60th largest in the world.
The target is to generate 10,000MW by 2025 to enable the country to have reliable power supply to support all economic activities.
The country’s demand is still below 2,000MW. The 2,115MW Nyerere Hydropower Dam is the first ever in the history of the country since independence, where the current production is only 1,600MW.
He said the project would consist of the construction of the power house with nine turbines.
Substations of 400KW will also be constructed and transmitted to Chalinze and then to Dar es Salaam. He mentioned another benefit that would come from the project as a reduction in environmental destruction for which more than 400,000 forest hectares were said to be destroyed annually through charcoal making.
For his part, Egyptian Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammedi Shaker, who led the Egyptian delegation, said his government was keen to support contractors implementing the project, namely Arab contractors and Elsewedy Electric.
“Egyptian President directed my ministry to ensure we offer all necessary support to the contractors so that they can implement the project at the standard set and meet the deadline,” he noted.
He said his ministry and the Ministry of Energy in Tanzania would work closely to ensure there was smooth transfer of technology and experience in the implementation of other projects apart from the hydropower dam.