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Monday, 15 October 2012 08:21 |
By The Citizen Correspondent
Kahama. The government is working on complaints about workers’ social security benefits in the mining sector. The assurance was made at the weekend by deputy minister for Energy and Minerals Stephen Masele, when he visited Bulyanhulu Goldmine in Shinyanga Region.
He said Members of Parliament (MPs) were likely to make amendments next month to restore employment withdrawal pension benefits.
“The
government in April this year made some amendments on pension benefits,
which sparked off debates on whether the government is pro-people or
exercises power arbitrarily and decides whatever it wants without
involving people,” he said when addressing workers at Bulyanhulu
Goldmine owned by African Barrick Gold (ABG).
“I am happy to
inform you today that the ministry of Labour and Employment is working
on this issue to ensure the pensions law is amended to allow flexibility
in pension benefits so that workers can claim their benefits after
employment,” he told the workers.
He said workers exercised their
rights when they opposed the new pensions law and urged them to be
patient, while the process of making amendments was ongoing.
“I
would like to assure you that you have valid arguments. You cant have a
piece of legislation that forces people to wait until they reach
retirement age to claim their benefits while they need that money now to
build a house, pay tuition fees for their children or invest in
development projects,” he said.
He noted that the government was
mindful of its people and so there was the likelihood of making
amendments in upcoming sessions of Parliament next month,” he explained.
Masele
said he had also received complaints that workers in the mining sector
lacked Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) despite paying taxes
through their salaries.
“Workers in the mining sector pay taxes
through their salaries, but don’t have TIN numbers. We have already
written to Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) commissioner general Harry
Kitilya and has in principle agreed that workers in the mining sector
should be given TIN numbers,” he said.
Mr Masele said the ministry
of Energy and Minerals had embarked on a fight against corruption and
embezzlement of public funds that previously existed in the ministry.
“Our ministry has changed, there was too much corruption before but now we are trying to put things in order. The ministry of Energy and Minerals is the heart of the nation’s economy, if the ministry doesn’t work properly it will paralyse all other ministries and lead to the collapse of the nation’s economy,” he said.
The deputy minister also
assured African Barrick Gold employees that the government was closely
monitoring talks between Barrick Gold Corp and a Chinese firm for a
possible take-over of ABG.
He said the government would ensure
national interests as well as the interests of ABG employees were
protected if any take over deal took place.
Mr Masele visited
various community investment projects implemented by Bulyanhulu
Goldmine, including the education sector and a housing scheme for
employees.
The minister has directed mining companies in the
country to help turn surrounding communities into modern satellite towns
by investing in the areas.
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