Contrary to speculations that the Geita Airport in Chato is an idle terminal, the authorities in the district say the facility is set to become a busy hub for shipments of freshwater fish exports from the nearby Lake Victoria.
Said Nkumba is the Chato District Commissioner who reveals here that the Geita Airport continues to handle tourists and businesspeople flying in and out of the region and district attending to various errands and activities.
And now the terminal is poised to play the role of special portal in the looming, ambitious fish trade in the locality.
According to DC Nkumba, the government has disbursed over 1.7 billion/- for the establishment of an International Fish Processing and export zone on the shores of Africa’s largest Lake.
“Most of the district residents are fishermen and we intend to boost their activities through the provision of a modern fish market, cold storage facilities and proper packaging skills as well as outside outlets for their products,” explained DC Nkumba.
Chato is home to 470,000 residents, most of them being fishermen and farmers. The government thus wants to create a special industry for that.
Mapped within the Lake Zone region of Geita is therefore working to become East Africa’s freshwater fish hub, with the establishment of a modern fish market processing zone.
The Geita Airport, according to the District Commissioner, will serve as the portal for taking fish products from Chato to other regions as well as connecting with other terminals such as the Julius Nyerere Airport in Dar, to fly the Lake Food shipment outside the country.
Apart from the Airport, the district transport sector is being complemented with a modern bus terminal constructed at the cost of 14 billion/- which is soon set to open gates for the upcountry passenger vehicles.
The large bus station comes at the time when the construction of the Magufuli Bridge, also known as the Kigongo – Busisi Bridge, is nearly complete and set to open anytime this year.
Previously referred to as the Mwanza Gulf Bridge, it spans 3.2 kilometres across Lake Victoria Gulf of Mwanza, linking the Kigongo area of Mwanza and Busisi in Geita Region. The bridge is expected to reduce the crossing time from 40 the current 40 minutes by ferry to just four minutes by cars.
The Kigongo-Busisi is reported to be the longest bridge in East Africa and the sixth-longest on the African continent and once in operation it is expected to handle an average of 1,600 vehicles cross the Gulf of Mwanza every 24 hours.
Outside business, Chato is also beefing up the district’s academic prowess with the ongoing construction of the Institute of Financial Management (IFM) at the cost of 8.5 billion/- the National Library facility at the cost of 3.4 billion/-.
All these facilities will serve the population of nearly 500,000 residents in the five divisions, 23 wards and 115 villages making up the entire Chato District.
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