Parliament calls for review of Dodoma airport funding arrangement

Dar es Salaam. Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday called for a review of the financing agreement for the $329.47 million Msalato International Airport project in Dodoma, the country’s administrative capital.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is to provide $271 million in project funding while the Tanzania government is supposed to contribute $57.84 million.

PAC’s directive came after an audit revealed flaws in the project feasibility study, contract supervision and procurement challenges leading to an increase in the project costs by nearly Sh7 billion.

PAC chairperson Naghenjwa Kaboyoka presented these recommendations in Parliament after tabling the committee’s 2024 report, which was subsequently debated and endorsed.

She shared the findings of the technical audit of the Msalato International Airport construction, which identified issues with the feasibility study that led to a Sh3.04 billion cost increase.

“Section 3.3 of the Ministry of Works’ 2011 Geometric Road Design Manual specifies that feasibility studies should account for factors such as soil conditions, slope gradients, construction costs, and road alignment,” Ms Kaboyoka said.

“However, discrepancies in these areas arose during the feasibility study, as drones were used to measure the land’s elevation without clearing the project site,” she added.

This led to an inaccurate assessment of the land’s elevation, mistaking shrub levels for the actual ground level, which impacted the project’s execution due to discrepancies between the elevation and the design specifications.

The audit also revealed a Sh5.729 billion increase for unapproved work with documents indicating that this amount was paid based on the project’s cost estimates, without the necessary approval from the Tender Board.

“These changes were driven by design challenges and errors in land elevation measurements during the feasibility study,” Ms Kaboyoka said.

She also highlighted that delays in payments to the contractor resulted in Sh303.814 million in interest charges.

Payments were delayed between eight and 70 days, which led to increased interest costs, a responsibility the government had under its agreement with the African Development Bank (AFDB).

The audit also found that during the procurement process, Tanroads approved 13 incomplete Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the project.

These proposals lacked crucial details such as the scope of work, project drawings, value-added components, and quality standards, resulting in over 50 clarification requests from bidders, many of which went unanswered.

Regarding the unapproved additional payments, Tanroads’ returning officer explained that these were due to extra work arising from issues identified during the feasibility study, she said.

As for the excessive payments to the consultant, deemed disproportionate to the work completed, the officer acknowledged that delays in the commencement of the project under the second package contributed to the increase.

Despite detailed explanations from Tanroads and the Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), Ms Kaboyoka reiterated that PAC recommends a review of the financing agreement’s provisions to ensure fairness in allocating increased costs and holding accountable those responsible.

She also urged the government to ensure Tanroads and the Ministry of Works fully manage the project and conduct a comprehensive assessment of losses caused by design flaws, holding the responsible parties accountable for the additional costs.

Ms Kaboyoka further stressed the need for Tanroads to seek Tender Board approval for any additional work and future cost increases following the contracts, laws, regulations, and procedures to control cost escalation.

Mr Stephen Byabato (Bukoba Urban-CCM) suggested that funds spent on delays could have been better utilised for other development activities.

“A similar situation occurred in Bukoba Town, where a control tower was built but has yet to become operational due to unnecessary delays,” he said.

Ms Anatropia Theonest (Special Seats-Chadema) pointed out that issues with project designs identified in several Controller and Auditor General (CAG) reports have often resulted in interest charges and increased costs.

“Reports show that the use of drones in the Msalato Airport project feasibility study led to cost increases due to mismatched information. My question is, was accuracy prioritised during this exercise?” she queried.