The Government points to plans to improve infrastructure through the construction of new dams
April 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The death toll due to the floods recorded during the last two weeks has increased to around 58, which has led the authorities to outline plans to improve infrastructure through the construction of new dams to deal with this type of flood. of catastrophes.
The Tanzanian Government spokesperson, Mobhare Matinyi, has highlighted that the authorities are committed to building additional dams to mitigate the impact of these floods, amid criticism of the situation after the death of at least 58 people during the last fourteen days.
To date, the authorities have confirmed eleven deaths in the Costa region, ten in Arusha and Rukwa, six in Mbeya, five in Morogoro and Iringa, four in Lindi and Geita, two in Dar and one in Kilimanjaro, with the Pwani region as the most affected.
Thus, Matinyi has rejected that the Julius Nyerere dam – which began operations in December 2022 – is exacerbating floods in the Costa and Mogororo regions and has argued that, on the contrary, it is containing them, as reported by the Tanzanian newspaper 'The Citizen'.
“If it were not for the dam, the floods could have started in October 2023 and would have been much more serious,” he maintained, before emphasizing that “the dam also helped estimate the amount of water and its timing, giving a early warning to citizens.
For this reason, he has insisted that the Government plans to build two dams on the Rufiji River, to which another twelve will be added in other parts of the country, with some of the works already underway in their first phases. In addition, he has carried out feasibility studies for more than 125 other dams.
