Stiegler’s Gorge project to create 5,000 jobs, minister tells Parliamentary team

Rufiji. Between 3,000 and 5,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities will be created by the Stigler’s Gorge project, Energy and Minerals minister Medard Kalemani says.

He was briefing a delegation of the Parliamentary Committee for Energy and Minerals at the project’s site yesterday.

The committee inspected the construction of roads and bridges at the area where a major water dam will be built.

Dr Kalemani also told MPs that the project would also stimulate tourism and expand towns. Villagers would also benefit immensely as 37 villages in Kibiti and Chalinze had been connected to electricity.

“We hope that upon the completion of the project, power costs will fall,” he said.

Dr Kalemani said the government was keen in implementing more electricity, coal and gas projects.

The committee’s chairman, Mr Dunstan Kitandula, said the delegation was satisfied with the progress of the project and called upon the business community to take opportunities unleashed by it.

“All the work cannot be done by foreign engineers, some tasks might as well be done by local firms,” he said.