No word yet on $36 million Lake Victoria maritime communication project

Kigali. Tanzania government has called for completion of the Lake Victoria Maritime Communications and Transport project headquarters in Mwanza.

The project funds of $ 36.5 million were approved by the African Development Bank (AfDB) years back but there had been delays in implementation.

Mwanza regional officials have told members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) that they want the project to move on.

According to them, the government has provided a piece of land in Mwanza for construction of the proposed maritime communication centre.

The Communication House will fall under the regional Lake Victoria Maritime Communications and Transport project geared to improve safety.

This is one of several projects implemented by the East African Community (EAC) and its institutions in the resource-rich and shared lake.

“The EAC partner states should pay much attention to the protection of the lake,” Eala Committee members on Regional Affairs were told during a visit to the lakeside town recently.

The MPs visited Mwanza for a fact finding mission on the safety and security of movement of people and goods on the largest water body in the region.

According to a report tabled before the regional Assembly sitting in Kigali, the Tanzanian officials are irked by the delayed completion of the facility.

The legislators did not fall short of expressing their worries over the increasing number of marine accidents and deaths in Lake Victoria.

Most of them are attributed to bad weather conditions, unseaworthiness of vessels, lack of safety gears, overloading and other factors.

Notable marine accidents in the vast lake involving large vessels include capsizing of MV Bukoba in May, 1996 and MV Nyerere in September 2018.

Between 800 and 1,000 people are estimated to have died in the former tragedy while more than 130 perished in the latter with many survivors.

Marine security threats in Lake Victoria also include illegal fishing, theft of fish cages, pirates, and poor port infrastructures and landing sites.

Trade within the basin area relies heavily on lake transport, implying that any disruption impacts negatively on people’s livelihood.

The Eala team which visited the Tanzanian ports in Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika was led by Ms Fatuma Ndagiza, a lawmaker from Rwanda.

Proposed solutions to the crises include re-survey of the lake to obtain updated navigational charts and update or amendment of existing Lake Victoria Transport Act, 2007.