LAKE ZONE: Airport project stalls over funds

Mwanza.The completion schedule of a project to rehabilitate Mwanza Airport has been interrupted due to government failure to deliver funds to the contractor in time.

This is the second project in Mwanza Region to be disrupted due to financial problems after the construction of Usagara-Kisesa road stopped following a delay by the ministry of Works to compensate villagers who were supposed to be evacuated to pave the way for its expansion.

It was reported that apart from failing to compensate the villagers, the ministry was yet to pay the road contractor, Nyanza Road Works, some Sh4 billion for the completed part of the project.

For the airport project, available reports indicate that the government has only paid Sh1.6 billion out of the required Sh12 billion for the completed work to a China-based contractor, Beijing Construction Engineering Group.

The deputy minister for Transport, Dr Charles Tizeba, told Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda who inspected the construction at the weekend that delays in disbursement of payments have interrupted the project implementation schedule, saying its deadline was previously set for October, this year.

“Despite delays of payments from the government, we asked the contractor to continue executing the project using their own funds...this is why the construction is going on,” he said. However, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda promised to work towards addressing the problem. According to the Airport manager Esther Madelu, the project, which is aimed at making the facility the third international airport in the country, would have cost Sh105 billion if completed within the planned period.

“It was to be completed by October, this year, but a lot of work is pending such as construction of a terminal building that would accommodate two million passengers per year,” she said.