In a word, Dar is gradually becoming an expensive city relative to the level of income of its population. According to latest government statistics annual inflation at October 2010 was 12.1%. Many new increases are in the pipeline. Electricity rates went up by 19% on January 1, 2011. Cooking gas filled in canisters will go up by 9% in January.
Typical office salaries for non-professionals range between $600 and $800 per month and salary increases have been very modest, no where near the rate of inflation. House helpers (i.e. domestic servants) make roughly US$70 per month. Excluding housing costs, a couple needs anywhere between US$800 to US$1,000 per month to survive in the City centre.
Housing in this crowded city fall into three categories:
government-owned apartment units that were confiscated from the previous Asian landlords at the peak of the Arusha Declaration in 1967 and referred to as "Nyumba Ya Msajili"; individually owned units; the new multi-storey apartments that dwarf the old buildings of Dar. These new constructions offer the most luxurious living that are comparable to the North American standards. However, they are in Dar and not in Toronto or Manhattan.
For example, a 12 storey buildings comprised of 24 apartments would have only one elevator to service potentially 72 residents with a load factor of 8 at a time. A tenant should be prepared for a long wait for a ‘lift’ at peak times. With electricity problems and lack of qualified technicians, I observed one such 11-storey building did not have its only elevator for over 72 hours. Some folks were confined to their apartments for 3 days.
One apartment building presently under construction boasts underground parking; but here is the catch. It offers a car elevator that can carry your car to the basement since the builder has avoided building a ramp into the basement to save buildable space. You can park your car at the risk that the elevator would be working when you wish to retrieve your car.
The old ‘Msajili’ units command the lowest rents – between $200 and $400 per month. The owned units can fetch monthly rents of about US$500 to $800 depending on location and size. The newest constructions can rent for between $1200 and $2000 per month. These newest construction provide a bonus that the older units do not, an uninterrupted supply of water and power. These buildings have industrial generators to provide electricity and huge water tanks or bore wells to supply water when the rest of Dar is struggling through electricity and water rationing, a reality here.
The constant and debilitating power and water rationing is a symptom of government’s mismanagement. The excuse offered unashamedly by officials include breakdown of power generating turbines, dwindling river levels due to lack of rain, supply problems from natural gas providers to fire the grid and delays in shipment of spare parts from Europe. Tanzanians accept these excuses without even a murmur with occasional letters to the press. By nature, Tanzanian happen to be a docile people who have endured in the past a life worse than what they face today.
Tanzanian shilling is trading at around 1,470 to the US dollar. As a visitor, I moved around with my calculator to be astounded constantly by the price demanded.
A litre of gas costs shillings 1,730 which converts to US$1.18. That is roughly what I pay in Toronto.
A coconut costs 700 shillings or 48 cents, a glass of khungu juice costs 3,500 shillings or $2, an ice-cream faluda costs 6,000 shillings or $4 a glass. A meal of barbequed chicken and chips at a street vendor costs $6. Paan costs 1,500 shillings or about US$1.
To enjoy life in Dar, you have to be really rich. For the poor and middle class, life is difficult.
For majority of our Asians life is a struggle. The wives have to supplement family income by either supplying cooked food to the rich, sewing clothes for others or carrying out small scale trading out of their homes.
Dar city centre does not have a single park system that one can stroll in during its beautiful sun down.
I pity the energetic children of the city. Their growth is stunted in the arms of the ayahs or in their car seats.
There are no pavements that one can walk along safely without fear of tripping oneself. The pavements are generally cracked and become the parking spaces for the SUVs.
There is proliferation of Askaris to take care of these expensive vehicles.
An old man trying to make his way to the mosque for the evening prayers does so at his peril.
For Asians, Oyster Bay on Sunday is the only outlet. For others it is the over-rated Slipway a short ride from town. There is nowhere else to go.
Oyster Bay is generally teeming with cars jockeying for a spot to park. When there, nobody walks. Pssengers congregate
around their cars drinking madafu, popping karangas (peanuts) or just gazing at the occupants of other cars. Within half an hour, they pack themselves in the cars and head back home.
The half an hour outing is usually supplemented by a stop at Muchachu or Kachupi or Mamboz for a barbequed chicken leg, mishkaki and nundu washed down by ‘soda’.
Asians generally do not drink water with their meals. But, this is a typical outing for those who own a car. For those who do not have transportation, kabrastan (graveyard) is the outlet for a Sunday’s outing. I have not figured out what their women do.
The heat is stifling. In December, the temperature can reach as high as 33 Celsius in the day and 30 degrees in the evening.
Multiple showers a day and change of clothes is a norm. But remember water is scarce.
Fans or air-conditioning is a must for comfort. But, electricity is expensive when available. According to my calculation, cautious use of electricity can cost at least US$100 per month.
When in Dar, just pray you do not fall sick. Primary care attention involving blood test and medication can cost as much 40,000 shillings. There are a few clinics either owned privately or as part of the community charitable trust that provide basic primary care.
Anything more complicated has to be referred to hospitals that are struggling to rise to international standards. Even the once-renowed Aga Khan Hospital is said to have dropped its standard. Those few, who can afford, travel to Dubai or India for medical treatment.
So what has been the attraction of Dar for the return of Asians from the diaspora who are prepared to buy half-million dollar apartments?
Is it the promise of a boom brewing in the distant horizon?
Or is it the lack of ice cold temperatures of Europe and North America that the old and brittle bones can no longer tolerate?
Or is the thought that the monthly pension entitlements arising from years of toil in the west can provide a better life with servants at call and beckon?
Frankly, I do not know the answer.
But all said and done, Dar es Salaam can be an exciting city that offers easy access to beautiful beaches, a trip to Zanzibar, snorkelling in Mafia,
or a trip to Mikumi National Park. You can leave outside the downtown core in palatial homes facing the Indian Ocean.
You can afford multiple servants at home and a driver to chauffer you around in style and comfort.
The locals are excessively humble who will bend backwards to help you.
You can fly out to Dubai or India for a quick medical check-up or attention.
The hot and humid weather is bearable and the arthritic aches and pains common in Toronto or London just melt away in this heat.
You do not have to endure the cold winds or lonely confinement of Toronto winters.
You can live like a king in the confines of your kingdom provided your treasury can generate at least Canadian $4,000 per month, not an impossible amount for the successful retirees with no family commitments in the west who need a change; they exist.
Think about it.
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