Tanzania: Parliament urges government to double budget for rural roads

Dar es Salaam. The parliamentary Local Government Affairs Committee has called upon the government to substantially increase the budget allocated for upgrading rural roads to meet the target of having at least 70 percent of the roads paved.

The committee, which presented its annual report covering the period through February 2024, emphasised that the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (Tarura) requires a significant budget increase.

The Committee’s chairperson, Mr Dennis Londo, specifically proposed raising the budget from the current Sh710 billion to Sh1.64 trillion annually for four consecutive years. This substantial funding boost is deemed necessary to effectively implement Tarura's road infrastructure projects.

It was unfortunate, Mr Londo noted, that Tarura has received only 12 percent of its budget so far.

Mr Londo, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Mikumi constituency, said this comes after the committee found that the majority of Tarura serviced roads (69 percent) are earthen roads.

The district road network under Tarura totals 144,429.77 kilometres, out of which only 3,224.12 kilometres, equivalent to 2.23 percent, consist of tarmac roads.

The remaining 41,107.52 kilometres, or 28.46 percent, are gravel; 100,098.13 kilometres, or 69.31 percent, are earthen roads.

“This situation has led to a continual deterioration of many roads managed by Tarura, particularly during periods of heavy rainfalli,” he said.

According to him, in the fiscal year 2023/2024, Tarura was allocated a total of Sh818.02 billion for road infrastructure repair. Of these funds, Sh710.31 billion are domestic funds, and Sh107.71 billion are foreign funds.

“Cash received as of December 31, 2023, was Sh82.50 billion, equivalent to only 12 percent of the annual budget. This cash receipt enabled the implementation of road construction and maintenance work for the fiscal year 2023/2024 to reach 38.84 percent of the targets,” he said.

“The committee is not satisfied with this situation of budget allocation to Tarura, especially considering that recently there has been significant infrastructure damage due to ongoing rains in most parts of the country,” Londo added.

According to him, the committee recommends that the government also initiate the process of issuing Tarura Infrastructure Bonds to source funds and improve road infrastructure.

“The government should seek alternative sources of funding, including involving the private sector, to enable Tarura to secure funds for its projects,” he said.

On good governance, the committee proposed that the government should fully oversee the implementation of the Decentralisation-by-Devolution (D-by-D) policy and its principles.

This, he said, is because the committee figured that the decentralisation policy, whose purpose is to empower the local government authorities (LGAs) to manage and deliver development to rural areas, has so far weakened.

“This situation has been caused by the LGAs focusing more on administrative roles and neglecting rural development without effective management,” he said.

The committee has also made recommendations for improving infrastructure in the education sector and increasing access to medical equipment and professionals in the health sector.

“The government should effectively oversee the use of domestic funds so that these funds can be used to complete projects and develop educational infrastructure,” he said.

Londo said the government should assess the cost and needs of equipment required at each health facility in the country to understand the extent of the problem, while emphasising that the government should prepare a work plan and seek budgetary solutions to address this issue.