Axe hanging over Chalinze water project contractor

THE government has expressed disappointment over slowness in implementing the Phase III Chalinze water supply projects, threatening to terminate the contract of the company in question if 80 per cent progress would not have been attained by February 8th next year.

The Indian contractor, Overseas Infrastructure Alliance (OIA) Pvt Ltd has already been issued with a 100- day notice to that end. Chalinze water projects are implemented by the government to the tune of 42 million US Dollars, a soft loan secured from the Indian government.

“We are on the safe side since we have observed all the required procedures for contract termination. We are satisfied that the contractor is incompetent, and has serious financial constraints to the extent that it cannot even pay labourers,” said Water and Irrigation Minister, Eng Isack Kamwelwe.

Early this year, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa put the contractor on notice: complete the water project within the set timeframe or suffer contract termination. Mr Majaliwa gave the order in the wake of the realization that the contractor had implemented only 23 per cent of the work.

In March this year, President John Magufuli ordered the confiscation of the passport of an Indian contractor of the same firm after he had failed to complete a water project in Lindi Region on time. Eng Kamwelwe, who was on a two-day tour to inspect implementation of water projects in Dar es Salaam and Coast regions, noted that the construction company also lacked qualified personnel and an efficient management system.

The minister explained that it was unlikely that the contractor would complete the job before February 8, 2018, pointing out, therefore, that termination of the contract was a matter of certainty rather than probability.

Besides contract termination, the minister said, Overseas Infrastructure Alliance (OIA) Pvt Ltd would have to surrender 10 per cent of the disbursed funds to the government. “We have played our part by ensuring timely payment of funds, but yet he has failed to complete the job since signing of the construction agreement in September, 2015”, said Eng Kamwelwe, pointing out that the water projects had been scheduled for completion in February this year.

He said the government extended the project period to November 2017, but yet he couldn’t finish the job, which, among other things, includes construction of storage tanks and one clear water tank with a capacity of 1,000 cubic metres, as well as laying water pipes in various villages within Chalinze.

Eng Kamwelwe reiterated that the government was determined to improve the water sector, targeting to reach 95 urban residents and 85 per cent of rural residents by 2020. He noted that current efforts under his ministry and the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA) had resulted in increased water supply in Dar es Salaam and Coast region.

The minister said the current production was 501 million litres, against the demand of 544 million litres. “We have taken a number of measures to meet the demand for water in Dar es Salaam. We have also drilled 260 water wells at Mpera and Kimbiji that will serve people in Temeke and other districts,” Eng Kamwelwe further explained.

The Chalinze legislator, Mr Ridhiwani Kikwete, said his constituents were eagerly awaiting completion of the project. “I am impressed by measures the government has taken against the contractor since he has proved an absolute failure…we have been waiting for this project since 2003,” he remarked.

According to Mr Kikwete, implementation of phase I and II was timely and there had been high hopes for completion of phase III early this year. The DAWASA Acting Chief Executive Officer, Eng Romanus Mwang’ingo, said the Chalinze water project aims to increase water production to 900 cubic m from the current 500 cubic m. He said that 351 water kiosks would be erected in various villages in Chalinze and Bagamoyo municipal councils.


“This major project also covers some parts of Tanga, Morogoro and Coast regions”, he explained. Eng Mwang’ingo mentioned the villages which will be served under the project in Morogoro Region as Kizuka ‘A’ and ‘B’, Ngerengere, Kinoko ‘A’ and ‘B’, Tukamisasa, Lulenge, Visakazi, and Bwawani.