PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa
He has also ordered that an indefinite suspension of forest harvesting due to incompetence be imposed.
The officers who faced the abrupt
suspension yesterday included the Head of Land Department, Environment
and Natural Resources, Dr Paul Ligonja; the District Forestry Officer,
Mr Gaudens Tarimo; the Forest Officer, Mr Yonas Nyambuya and Tanzania
Forest Services (TFS) District agent Seleman Bulenga.
The Prime Minister suspended the forest
department officials during a meeting with Rufiji District members of
staff before addressing a public rally at Jumba la Maendeleo grounds in
the district. Mr Majaliwa further directed Rufiji District Commissioner
(DC) Juma Njwayo to collect all logs in the forest and auction them.
He, at the same time, instructed that
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism should send its team to
Rufiji District so that it can make a thorough inspection of the forest
harvesting licences to establish the authenticity of those documents.
According to the Premier, Rufiji is
among the districts that are leading in the harvesting of forest
products without following appropriate legal procedures although it has a
good number of forest officers.
“There is no any success whatsoever in
the harvesting of forests in this district. Therefore, I am suspending
indefinitely this business and its officials because we cannot watch and
do nothing as people take away logs without following requisite legal
procedures,’’ he stressed.
He said there was no time for ‘Business
as Usual’ mentality. He insisted that even those with licences should
wait for an inspection so as to identify where they obtained them. He
added that the government was not ready to see forest officers
authorising the harvesting of forest products with the money ending up
in their pockets.
In another development Mr Majaliwa
directed the Rufiji District Executive Director (DED) Mr Rashid Salum,
to consider the directives he issued to the Minister of Natural
Resources and Tourism, Professor Jumanne Maghembe, over the Ikwiri
roadblock when he held a meeting with the ministry’s staff.
On July 18, the Prime Minister visited
the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, where he held a meeting
with district and regional level officials. During that meeting, among
other issues, Mr Majaliwa directed the ministry to look into the
possibility of reducing roadblocks for inspection of forest products.
He also emphasized on integrity, hard work and accountability.
Four days later, Prof Maghembe reformed
the Tanzania Forest Services (TFS) by transferring its Chief Executive
Officer Gerald Kamwenda, senior directors and 41 other staff members.
During the meeting yesterday, Rufiji
Member of Parliament Mohammed Mchengelwa told the Prime Minister that
some officials in the district were disregarding queries raised by
residents, a move that prompted loss of trust in their government.
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