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Kikwete disappointed by Dar City fathers
2009-01-02 12:15:51
By Lusekelo Philemon
2009-01-02 12:15:51
By Lusekelo Philemon
President Jakaya Kikwete has expressed his disappointment over the Dar es Salaam City fathers` failure to put up proper strategies to beautify the country`s commercial hub.
Speaking at this year`s National Tree Planting Day yesterday in the city, Kikwete directed the city fathers to ensure that the country`s key commercial capital was among the best in east and central Africa.
He said that the situation in the city was in total jumble of untidiness making it unable to attract tourists.
``So, I call upon municipalities to ensure that the city is maintained to boost tourism in the country,`` he said, adding that in most cases foreign tourists did not visit it but rather treated it as a transit point.
For instance, he said most tourists preferred to visit Zanzibar and the northern tourist circuit of Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions.
President Kikwete urged city fathers to wake up and restore the beauty of Dar es Salaam, making both local and foreign tourists enjoy their stay in the same.
He however cited Coco Beach along the Indian Ocean coast as a very beautiful place, adding that it had been abandoned by the city authorities.
``This is a very good beach that if maintained would attract more tourists to visit Dar es Salaam. Nothing has been done to transform it,`` he said.
According to the president, cities like Durban in South Africa and Abidjan in Ivory Coast were among the most attractive on the African continent.
He said those two cities had similar geographical location with Dar es Salaam.
Kikwete also urged urban planners to ensure that the city was designed in a very beautiful manner and made attractive.
He said that currently there was no uniformity of buildings in the city, a thing that rendered it be in an awkward situation.
He further said trees planted along Dar es Salaam roads also had no uniformity, making it to be in a total mess.
On the issue of global warming, President Kikwete urged people to plant more trees as that would create more employment opportunities as well as sustain the ecosystems.
He said there were socio-economic benefits of reforestation including direct employment, infrastructure development, skills-transfer and creation of markets for related products and services.
``Trees provide local communities with additional products such as fuel-wood, fruit, nuts and herbs, and opportunities for agricultural activities,`` he said.
He said trees also helped to curb the negative impacts of global warming, including increased human mortality, shifts in crops and agriculture production and further degradation of the local ecosystems.
The National Tree Planting campaign started in 2001, with a projection of planting a total of 31m trees every year. Yesterday about 2000 palm trees were planted along Kilwa Highway in the city.
SOURCE: Guardian