Dr John Magufuli gestures some Dar es Salaam residents to board MV Dar es Salaam during the launch of the Dar-Bagamoyo trip last year. He was at the time minister for Works. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The report confirms investigation by The Citizen, which has revealed that the procurement of the boat didn’t meet requisite specifications and standards. The CAG Report indicates that the ferry’s speed does not comply with the purchaser’s requirements.
Dar es Salaam. The purchase of the Sh8 billion dormant MV Dar es Salaam-Bagamoyo ferryboat was undertaken without regard to public procurement requirements, a new Controller and Auditor General (CAG) report has confirmed.
The report confirms investigation by The Citizen, which has revealed that the procurement of the boat didn’t meet requisite specifications and standards. The CAG Report indicates that the ferry’s speed does not comply with the purchaser’s requirements.
The then minister for Works, Dr John Magufuli, floated the idea to have the ferry to ease traffic congestion in Dar es Salaam, which costs the nation about Sh400 billion annually.
The government, through Tanzania Electrical Mechanical and Electronics Service Agency (Temesa) went on to commission a Danish-based company, JGH, to supply the 300-passenger ferryboat to ply between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo at $4,980,000 (about Sh8 billion), VAT exclusive. The contract period was agreed to be eight months starting from April 25, 2013 and was later was extended to October 31, 2014.
According to the CAG Report, an expert inspection report noted that the maximum and minimum speed during sea trials was observed to be 19.45 and 17.25 knots respectively contrary to the agreed contract speed of 20 knots and a goods acceptance certificate was yet to be issued. The ferryboat was handed over to Temesa on November 17, 2014 after a delay of 16 days without the goods acceptance certificate the public procurement regulatory requires.
The report goes further that as at the time of audit in August last year, almost one year after handing over the goods, the certificate of acceptance was yet to be issued to the supplier contrary to the Public Procurement Regulatory (PPR), 2013.
The CAG says defects noted during technical and sea trials are not yet rectified and the ferryboat is not operational for a year now, says the report.
Authorities have since been forced to ground the boat few days after it conducted test run from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo on realising passengers shunned it for spending three hours to cover the distance. Speaking after receiving the ferryboat in November 2014, Dr Magufuli said “this is a ferry of its kind because its speed is incomparable with other ferries we have in the country.”
He said it would take a maximum of 2hrs to sail between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo. It was not clear if the minister knew about technical concerns.
Three weeks after, Dr Magufuli and about 100 passengers endured a three-hour ride from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo aboard the ferry.
Upon disembarking the ferryboat at Mbegani, Bagamoyo, he said: “It was a smooth and enjoyable ride...the ferry was not pushed to its maximum speed because it was just a test ride, but everything went well.”
