PRESIDENT John Magufuli has ordered immediate shelving of new Mining Development Agreements (MDAs) issuance to mining investors until the government carefully and strictly scrutinises their economic advantages and impacts.
And Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr
Job Ndugai yesterday announced formation of a special nine member team
to assess diamond mining activities in the country.
The team will start its work effective
July 10, this year and has 30 days to accomplish the activity. Dr
Magufuli who was briefly speaking to a section of Geita residents,
mainly members of the small-scale mining community undertaking their
activities in different parts of the region, said he had also ordered
for small-scale miners to continue with their activities while the state
reviews mining practices governing the entire sector.
He said that he had directed the
Commissioner of Mines and the entire Ministry of Energy and Minerals to
embark on fresh modus operandi pertaining issuance of mining development
contracts, while fully informed of the total mineral resources foreign
investors are invited to dig in the first place.
“We need to carry out thorough scrutiny
of the total value of our mineral resources first before giving the
green light to foreign investors to dig them. Suppose the estimated
value of our mineral resources is 400tril/-, let us know their incurred
investment costs and then talk of a win-win agreement,” said the
President.
Elaborating, the Head of State said the
country needs to be well prepared to counter all tricks by investors,
who should be made aware of clear demarcations between their rights and
that of the nation, before the line is ultimately drawn, leaving every
part satisfied on the sealed deal.
Time has come, the President reiterated,
where the country should garner substantially, equitably and profitably
from its precious resources, getting rid of irritating clauses like
four per cent royalties previously agreed in the abolished outdated
MDAs.
“It does not click well in mind that an
investor comes here and finds us with our land and gold in it, human
capital and uses our paved roads let alone enjoying lots of tax
exemptions, yet we end up receiving a meagre four per cent in royalty
... we cannot repeat these mistakes again,” he said.
And in another development, Dr Magufuli
warned heads of schools that they will lose jobs if it is discovered
that they kept pregnant girls in school or those who dropped out for
delivery and came back.
He said he seriously meant it when he
ordered the ‘mothers cum students’ out of schools and warned teachers
who will attempt cheating authorities in defending them.
President Magufuli challenged parents to
keenly watch the movements of their children particularly girls who
either freely or trickily find themselves sneaking out for deadly
outings and or attending irresponsible tuition classes only to socialise
with men.
He said parents must be strict in
upbringing their children and they should feel well guided to behave and
follow studies accordingly. He also warned Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) to stop advocating nasty issues.
The President noted that the government
should adopt new principles that will guide children to attend school
without unnecessary obstacles. On the other hand, Mr Ndugai’s move
follows complaints and various reports that Tanzania was gaining less
from precious minerals.
The team will be led by Ilala MP (CCM),
Mr Musa Azzan Zungu. The Speaker named committee members as: Dr
Immaculata Semesi Sware (Chadema), Shari Raymond (CM), Allan Kiula
(CCM), Rashid Abdallah (CUF), Restituta Mbogo, Ahmaed Ngwali( CUF),
Richard Ndasa (CCM) and Emmanuel Mwakasaka (CCM).
He said terms of references that will
guide the team include review of various reports that were presented by
previous teams formed by the government on the matter. The team will
also look at the ownership, mining and regulation of the mining
subsector.
Speaker Ndugai (pictured) added that the
team will be required to assess the advantages and disadvantages of the
current diamond extraction system. He added that the team will also
identify the best practice for supervising diamond extraction and
business as well as to point out any other important aspect in the
subsector.
According to Mr Ndugai, the team will be
assisted by the secretariat that will be formed by the Clerk of the
National Assembly, Dr Thomas Kashililah. He added that the team will
submit the report to his office for further action.
“This team will use at least 30 days, my
office will be ready to assist whenever necessary,” he said. According
to Speaker Ndugai, the team will perform its activities based in Dodoma
and that his office will assist when it will be necessary for the team
to travel in various parts in and outside the country.
“If need be, my office will assist the
team to travel outside the country in search of required information, we
want to come up with useful report on the matter,” he said.
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