Concerns as sh. 7bn Arusha college project stall

Arusha. The Arusha Technical College (ATC) says it is dismayed by the stalled construction of its key building.

It has called for quick intervention of the ministry of Education, Science and Technology to ensure the Sh. 6.8 billion building is completed.

Construction of a four floor building to house lecture rooms, offices and laboratory started nearly five years ago but so far only 49 per cent complete.

Funds for the project were secured as a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) under the latter's support for irrigation project at the college.

"The building was supposed to be finished last year but only 49 per cent of the civil works have been completed", said Dr. Masudi A. Senzia, the acting Rector at the weekend.

He raised the concern at the 10th graduation ceremony of the college in which a total of 436 students graduated in various levels of technical training; from certificate to Bachelor's Degree levels.

Construction is undertaken by TANCHI Brothers Company Limited, a firm with Tanzania and China ownership, the Rector said during an event graced by the deputy minister for Education, Science and Technology William Ole Nasha.

"The ministry should quickly intervene because the project's delay is impacting our training programmes", the Rector told the deputy minister.

Officials of the firm, which is also implementing various infrastructure development projects in and around Arusha, could not be reached for comment.

The half-finished tower in the vast college campus is one of the major projects under implementation at ATC as part of reforms to make it a centre of excellence of a kind.

It is already housing laboratory and land survey equipment worth Sh. 348.9 million and Sh. 137m respectively.

Recently purchased books worth Sh. 220m and furniture valued at Sh.159m are stocked there.

Other completed projects include rehabilitation and expansion of five workshops used for training at the cost of Sh. 650m

According to Dr Senzia , imported equipment and tools worth 6m Euros (approximately Sh. 15bn) were recently installed at the workshop.

Also purchased is a Sh. 47m worth tractor  through  the support of the Tanzania Educaiton Authority (TEA) under the latter's Skills Development Fund (SDF).

Speaking at the graduation, the deputy minister announced plans to construct a state-of-art technical college in the capital city, Dodoma.

The proposed college will cost Sh. 18bn and would complement technical training programmes currently offered by ATC and the Dar es Salaam  Institute of Technology (DIT)