Government okays Sh102 billion compensation for next phases of BRT project

Dar es Salaam. The government has approved Sh102 billion as compensation for Dar es Salaam residents who will leave their properties to allow the construction of the fourth and fifth Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

The expansion of the BRT system not only underscores the government’s commitment to improving public transportation, but also highlights its recognition of the importance of supporting affected communities during this process.

Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (Dart), chief executive Athuman Kihamia revealed to The Citizen that the government has approved a fiscal budget of Sh32 billion to compensate 229 Dar es Salaam residents who will be affected by of the fourth phase of the BRT project, and Sh70 billion for the compensation of residents affected by the fifth phase.

“The money has been approved by the government evaluator and the request has been submitted to the ministry of Finance. For BRT phase four, a total amount of Sh14 billion will be disbursed to 114 Mbuyuni residents while, Sh17 billion will be disbursed to 15 residents at Mlalakuwa area,” he said.

He said: “As soon as we receive the funds, we will begin to disburse them to the affected people. This will enable the contractor to take over the areas and enable them to continue with the construction of BRT phase four. Since construction of this phase is already in progress, we are optimistic that the funds will be released as soon as possible to avoid any delays,” he said.

The construction of BRT phase four will take 14 months. Actual construction commenced on November 1,2023 and is scheduled to be completed in May 2025. Explaining on BRT phase five, Mr Kihamia said that Sh70 billion will be disbursed to some residents in 32 streets along Kigogo roundabout and Segerea.

The BRT phase four with the length of 30.4 kilometres has three lots whereby the first lot starts at Maktaba area along the Bibi Titi Road and stretches along Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road.

It then continues up to Bagamoyo Road up to Mwenge and branches off the Nujoma Road at Simu 2000 area. Lot two starts from Mwenge along Bagamoyo up to Dawasa while lot three include expansion of Kivukoni terminal and construction of two depots at Simu 2000 and Mbuyuni.

The BRT phase five has a length of 25.7 kilometres. It starts at the Ubungo Kijazi intersection along Nelson Mandela Road up to Daraja la Nyerere and then branches off to Segerea along Tabata road and ends at Kigogo roundabout, another branch from Chang’ombe Veterinary along Mbagala Kwa Azizi Ali.