April 1, 2019

The Minister of Housing held his second meeting to follow up the executive status of Rufiji Dam which is being carried out by the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company in Tanzania...

The Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities – Dr. Assem El Gazzar held his second meeting to follow up the executive status for Rufiji Dam which is being carried out by the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company in Tanzania. This was in the presence of Major Gen. Amir Sayed Ahmed - Presidential Advisor for Urban Planning, Eng. Khaled Abbass– Deputy Minister of Housing for National Projects, Major Gen. Mahmoud Nassar –Head of the Central Agency for Reconstruction, Eng. Mohsen Salah – CEO and Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Sayed Farouk – Senior Vice Chairman, AC Board Members: Dr. Onsy El Beshouty, Dr. Mohammed Youssef and Eng.Ahmed El Assar, Eng. Ibrahim Mabrouk – Head of Africa Sector and the representatives of the JV. The Minister gave his direction to the closely and periodical followup of the project implementation. The Minister said that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ordered him to closely follow up such important national project of Tanzania, being committed to the time schedule and the execution quality. Dr. Assem stated that the Egyptian state is caring about this project and the Joint Venture of the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company is representing the Egyptian Government, We are in a need to prove the ability and the success of the Egyptian state and its companies in implementing mega projects abroad which will be an expansion of the great success achieved in the different fields inside Egypt. The Minister emphasized to the JV that the government will provide all the required support, he asked them to explore the problems and obstacles which could happen to the project and impact its work progress in order to overcome these problems and push the implementation rates. He stressed on the necessity for being committed to the time schedules and distributes the scope of the work for all the participating partners. The representative of the JV (the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company) provided a presentation about the work progress rate which includes the following points: the surveying works of the project is completed;the handing over of the work site from the Tanzanian side is done and the agreement upon the limits of the project. Besides, the provision of the time schedule, the agreement with the Tanzanian side, the preparation of a permanent headquarter for the project staff in Dar es Salam currently the project management is through it, the preparation of the safety - occupational health - environment – quality and security plans for the project phases. In addition to the issuance of the primary insurance document of the project and the completion of the final Letter of Guarantee for foreign currency. The JV representatives pointed out that the total number of the equipment in the work site until now reached 62; the total number of employment is 265 workers. They declared that the issuance of letters of guarantee of the advanced payment as preparation to receive it and use in the financing of the project's activities, preparing a detailed study about the soil layers and the geological surveying for the work site to define the requirements to build the dam, having a geological inspection for the quarries used as a primary materials in building the dam; issuing the permissions for the excavation and bombing works; besides the securing of the project area and the safety of the work staff; the implementation of the road works for the tunnel by diverting the river and the temporary bridge in the site, shipping all equipment necessary for the site preparation to launch the primary works for the project and road works, the construction and equipping of the camps and temporary offices for the project workers. It is a noteworthy that the Egyptian Joint Venture of the Arab Contractors Company and Elsewedy Electric Company which carried out the project signed in last December; in the presence of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Dr. Moustafa Madbouli - the Egyptian Prime Minister; the contract of building the Rufiji Dam and a hydropower plant with a capacity of 2115 MW in Tanzania with a total value 2.9 billion US$ in Dar es Salam aiming at generating 6307 MW/hour yearly for the consumption of 17 million Tanzanian family. In addition to these, the dam is controlling the flood to protect the environment from the risks of floods and swamps, storing about 34 billion m3 of water in anew lake to ensure permanent water availability throughout the year for agriculture, and preserving the surrounding wildlife in one of the largestforests in Africa and the whole world.