Call for Viable Proposed Market Plan

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

George Sembony

1 May 2011

Members of the Tanga regional consultative council have challenged the regional authorities to prepare a comprehensive viable plan for the development of the proposed Segera fruit market.

The proposed market would be in Handeni District on the Arusha-Tanga-Dar es Salaam highway. They vowed to make it a permanent agenda in the council if no tangible plans for the market would be in place.They were reacting to a presentation on the Master Plan for a Proposed Multipurpose International Market at Segera, Tanga Region, by Dr Nimrod Mushi of the Ardhi University.

In their response, the members said that there was a need for having a tangible plan that details when the proposed market would start. The chairman of the Parliamentary committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, said that the concept was good and could be a harbinger of economic development in the region, which needs to find ways of reviving its economic potential.

“The ministry needs to come up with a proposal to attract investors. They should look for a purposeful procedure to attract investment and encourage the private sector to invest,” Dr Kigoda, who is also the Handeni MP, said. His Lushoto counterpart, Mr Henry Shekifu, cautioned that bringing up the plan without putting in place ways for it to take off would make the proposed market a permanent agenda in the RCC.

“Tell us what the second step is. This is a land use plan. What do we start first taking into consideration that the origin of the plan was to construct an international market to cater for fruit farmers in the region,” he noted.

According to Dr Mushi, the master plan has already been presented to the ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing.

The Ardhi University sought to undertake a thorough economic evaluation of the area and its land use; carry out environmental and social impact assessment, soil analysis and mapping; as well as undertake a thorough preliminary property evaluation.

“The analysis shows that 60 per cent of fruits are exported to Kenya while the export of vegetables has remained low in Tanzania, with its development estimated to be between five to 10 years behind Kenya. Dr Mushi said, however, that there was a need to improve infrastructure, storage systems as well as business skills of farmers.

as well as encouraging investors to construct part of the proposed facilities.”Currently, they normally look for markets after harvest that restricts efficiency in marketing,” he said adding: “It is not necessarily that all buildings should be constructed by the government. There are people who can build storage facilities,” he said.

The Handeni district executive director, Mr Hassan Mwachibuzi, said there was a need for the master plan to harmonise the construction of a bus terminal at the area. The Handeni District Council is constructing a bus station at the same area while the master plan also has a bus terminal as one of its components under the proposed project.

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