Tanzania is set to spend 2.4billion shillings (2.16 million US dollars) on building and upgrading six roads in the country.

The planned road projects combine to cover 944 km in all and they incorporate into the government's road extension program in that they are all located in areas with high economic potentials.

The Tanzania National Roads Agency has signed six local firms to design the roads and prepare in seven to 12 months the tenders for construction contractors.

"Road infrastructure is essential for socio-economic development, especially for a country like Tanzania where roads carry over 80 percent of passenger traffic and over 70 percent of internal freight," said Frederick Addo-Abedi, chief executive officer of the Tanzania National Roads Agency.

Tanzania has planned to pave 10,400 km of the country's trunk road network with hard surfaces of either tarmac or cement by the year 2021. According to projections by the Tanzanian Ministry of Works, the east African country is expected to pave some 7,700 km of trunk roads with hard surfaces by the end of 2006.

Road construction in Tanzania, a tropical country just south of the equator, has been hampered by scorching sunshine, excessive rainfalls, and etching salty moist winds from the Indian Ocean.

The local firms are therefore charged with designing roads with long service life, resistance to oil chemicals, endurance of weather, strength increase with use, and better resilience to heavy axle loads.

Source: Xinhua