Mikumi airstrip upgrade project engages villagers as labourers

26Jan 2024
By Guardian Reporter
Mikumi
News
The Guardian
Mikumi airstrip upgrade project engages villagers as labourers

EIGHTY people from villages surrounding Mikumi National Park have been hired as labourers in the tourist hotspot’s airstrip upgrade project implemented by the Resilient Natural Resources for Growth Project (REGROW). 

The Mikumi airstrip upgrading project which involves construction of 1.8 kilometer runway will upon completion add value to the park as well as boost government coffers due to increased number of visitors.

The project is being executed in the tourism destinations mapped within the southern highlands circuit.

Herman Mtei, Senior Conservation Officer and Head of the Tourism Department at Mikumi National Park said this on Wednesday when briefing a group of journalists who toured the park and surrounding communities to witness various activities implemented under the project.

He said construction of Mikumi airstrip is implemented alongside six other construction projects within the park.

The official noted that at least 65 percent of labourers working in the airstrip construction project are locals from villages surrounding the park. He said one of the conditions given to the contractor during contract signing was hiring labourers from the surrounding villages.

“The project is important to us because it is going to improve provision of air transport services since the park currently receives a good number of tourists arriving from Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar. Its completion will add value to our park as well as boost government coffers due to increased number of visitors,” he said.

Godson Chilongola (53), a resident of Mikumi village in Kilosa District, Morogoro Region is one of locals who works as a casual labourers in the airstrip upgrading project who said the income he gets has enabled him to start a clothes store business as well as support his wife’s food vending business.

REGROW, a $150 million (about 350bn/-) is implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in collaboration with partners such as the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), Tanzania Tourist Board (TTB, National Irrigation Commission, Rufiji Water Board and Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) and is meant to transform the tourism sector in the Southern Circuit. It will be completed in February 2025.

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