Coast Region — Bagamoyo District Council in the Coast Region has officially been upgraded to a Town Council status, following a government directive issued by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Minister in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Mohamed Mchengerwa said on Friday during his working tour of the region that the Head of State had issued directives for the district to be upgraded to Town Council.
“Our President had given directives for your district to be upgraded to Town Council. This has already been done, Bagamoyo District is now Bagamoyo Town Council. This means preparations for town planning will start as soon as possible,” said Mr Mchengerwa.
He directed his ministry officials to finalise all legal procedures including announcing the decision in the Government Gazette without delay.
Mr Mchengerwa further directed a team of town planning experts from his ministry to immediately move to Bagamoyo and begin professional preparations on how to arrange the town in line with the new status.
In addition, he revealed that the government has allocated a total of 1bn/- to improve health services in Bagamoyo.
He instructed the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary to ensure that 700m/-, earmarked for the construction of a health centre at Kisutu area and 300m/- allocated for a new dispensary at Kitame area are judiciously spent.
On infrastructure, he directed the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) to conduct a detailed review of the road network in Bagamoyo Town and prepare a plan for expanding asphalt roads to ease transportation services, facilitate business and improve the welfare of residents.
During the tour, Mr Mchengerwa inspected various projects in the health, education and infrastructure sectors, including the construction of a dormitory for pupils with special needs at Nianjema Primary School.
He said the infrastructure should be safeguarded so it can continue serving more children.
Mr Mchengerwa further said that the dormitory project was designed to bring together children with special needs to provide them with life skills and education.
Meanwhile, Coast Regional Commissioner, Mr Abubakar Kunenge, thanked the government on behalf of Bagamoyo residents for the various measures being instituted to improve their lives.
“We, the residents of Bagamoyo, are very grateful to our President Samia Suluhu Hassan for her commitment, including donating for the construction of Bagamoyo Port, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Bagamoyo to Kwala Dry Port for cargo transportation, as well as the construction of a power line from Chalinze to Bagamoyo,” he said.