He said the Camry's

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DAR ES SALAAM J.J. Hardy Jersey , July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) said on Wednesday it plans to build a dry port in the east African nation's western region of Kigoma to cater for East Africa and the Great Lakes region.


Morris Nchindiuza, Kigoma region TPA Acting Manager, told a news conference in the port city of Tanga that the project will be among the biggest investments made by the authority in modern times. He did not reveal the cost of the project.


Nchindiuza said TPA has finalized plans for the massive project which will largely serve landlocked countries of Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.


He said TPA has already disbursed 5.5 million U.S. dollars to compensate 1,228 people who were living in the project area.


Early this month, President John Magufuli launched a project to upgrade the east African nation's largest port in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.


The Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DSMGP) will be undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Construction Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of the state-run China Communications Construction Company Ltd. The project was expected to be completed in 36 months.


Bella Bird, the World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and Somalia, said the Dar es Salaam port was vital for the economies of Tanzania and neighboring countries.


She said upgrading of the port will enhance its operational potential and boost trade and job creation across the region.


"The project will also reduce the current cost of 200 to 400 dollars for each additional day of delay for a single consignment," said Bird.


The port of Dar es Salaam currently has 11 berths, with seven of these dedicated to general cargo and four to container operations.


The port handled 13.8 million tons in 2016 up from 13.1 million tons in 2013 and 10.4 million tons in 2011 reflecting an average growth of 9 percent per year over the last five years while recent numbers indicated a slowdown.


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A federal jury decided on Tuesday that the design of the 1996 Toyota Camry had a dangerous defect that was partly to blame for a fatal 2006 crash, and the automaker must pay nearly $11 million to victims.


Jurors said the company was 60 percent to blame for the accident, which left three people dead and two seriously injured. But they also found that Koua Fong Lee, who has long insisted he tried to stop his car before it slammed into another vehicle, was 40 percent at fault.


Lee, his family members, the family of a girl who died, and two people who were seriously injured sued Toyota Motor Corp. in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. The lawsuit alleged the crash was caused by an acceleration defect in Lee's vehicle, but Toyota argued there was no design defect and that Lee was negligent.


"No amount of money ... will bring my life back, my life is not the same anymore," Lee said after the verdict, adding that he wanted the victims and their families to know: "I tried everything I could to stop my car."


Toyota released a statement saying the company respects the jury's decision but believes the evidence clearly showed the vehicle wasn't the accident's cause. The company said it will study the record and consider its legal options going forward.


After the 2006 wreck, Lee was convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to prison. He won a new trial after reports surfaced about sudden acceleration in some Toyotas, and questions were raised about the adequacy of his defense. Prosecutors opted against a retrial and he went free after spending 2? years behind bars. He later sued.


The civil trial lasted three weeks, and jurors spent four full days deliberating.


Under Minnesota law, the way the jury allocated fault means Toyota is responsible for paying all damages, minus 40 percent of the amount awarded to Lee, said Lee's attorney, Bob Hilliard. That brings Toyota's total liability to $10.94 million. Lee will receive $750,000 of that total.


During the trial, Hilliard, told jurors there was a defect in the car's design. He said the Camry's auto-drive assembly could stick, and when tapped or pushed while stuck, it could stick again at a higher speed. He also accused Toyota of never conducting reliability tests on nylon resin pulleys that could be damaged under heat and cause the throttle to stick.


"This is what makes the car go. This is what turns it into a torpedo, a missile, a deadly weapon," Hilliard said during his closing argument.


Toyota said there was no defect in the design of the 1996 Camry. The company's attorney, David Graves, suggested that Lee was an inexperienced driver and mistook the gas pedal for the brake.


Toyota also noted that Lee's car was never subject to the recalls of later-model Toyotas.


Hilliard said the verdict means that other 1996 Toyota Camrys have defects, and perhaps the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration needs to take a look at the car, while owners of those vehicles need to make sure they are safe.


"I am 100 percent convinced in my heart and mind that there is a defect in this Camry, and that this defect caused this accident," he said.


The crash killed the driver of the other vehicle, Javis Trice-Adams Sr., and his 9-year-old son, Javis Adams Jr. They were not part of the case.


Trice-Adams' 6-year-old niece, Devyn Bolton, was paralyz.