LAPF ready to house newcomers to Dodoma
As the government is almost done with relocation to Dodoma, the Local Authorities Pension Fund (LAPF) has reiterated its resolve to carry out major infrastructure projects in order to support the government move.
Speaking with reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Fund’s Corporate Marketing and Communication Manager, Mr James Mlowe, said the projects would ‘beautify’ the region, adding that a number of infrastructure developments were on the pipeline aimed at meeting accommodation needs of the region’s growing population.
“We started investments in Dodoma before even the government announced its decision to shift from Dar es Salaam, the commercial city to ensure that Tanzanians live in decent houses … and also benefit from other benefits we offer to improve their lives,” he noted.
Mr Mlowe outlined that chief among its priorities would include investments in shopping malls, houses for public servants and general improvements in development infrastructure.
The Fund’s portfolio also includes investments to facilitate smooth payment of members’ benefits the moment they retire while remaining the leading social security fund in the country.
On the forthcoming 9th stakeholders’ conference that will be graced by the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, stakeholders are expected to discuss, among other issues, financial stability of the pension fund and investments.
Themed “sustainable employment creation for social security development in Tanzania,” the twoday conference will also showcase a number of events including kidney health check-ups and a 5km walk that will be led by the premier.
“…the health of our members is our priority … that’s why we have health benefits and to support the government’s efforts to curb deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), we will have a health walk before getting back to paperwork on day two,” he said.
In partnership with CRDB Bank, a new benefit scheme - ‘Maisha Popote na LAPF (Life Anywhere with LAPF)’ – will be launched to enable new employees secure loans three times their salaries so that they could implement their development plans. Head of Statistics, Actuarial and Risk Management, Mr Abubakar Ndwata, assured members and the general public that there were enough funds for all beneficiaries up to 50 years from now.
“According to our assessment, the fund can survive up to over 50 years from now … last financial year alone we invested over a trillion shillings … which is good enough for our own survival and in paying handsome benefits to our members,” he said.