COLLECTION of public opinions on the three natural resource bills was closed here yesterday, paving way for the committees to work on the documents before legislators start debating them in the House.
Members of Parliament are scheduled to
debate and hopefully endorse the three bills between today and
Wednesday. The bills are Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act,
2017, the Natural Wealth and Contracts (Review and Renegotiation of
Unconscionable terms) Act, 2017 and the Natural Wealth and Resources
(Permanent Sovereignty) Act 2017.
Last Thursday, Speaker Job Ndugai
announced the extension of the parliamentary sessions to Wednesday this
week to enable MPs to work on the three bills as requested by President
John Magufuli.
Shortly after the Speaker’s
announcement, three Parliamentary committees, including the
Parliamentary Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee started working
on the bills.
The committees invited MPs and members
of the public to give their opinions to enable the committees to safely
harbour the three bills ready for debate in the House today.
The committees invited various legal
experts and mining industry stakeholders from various parts of the
country to analyse the bills. Generally, experts and industry
stakeholders who shared their views wanted MPs to endorse the bills only
if they stand to protect the country’s natural resources and
Tanzanians’ welfare.
Some of experts who aired their opinions
include Dr Rugemeleza Nshala from the Lawyers’ Environmental Action
Team (LEAT). He told the committees that his organization was pleased
with the way the bills were prepared and that he wished to add some
inputs in various areas.
On the Written Laws (Miscellaneous
Amendments) Bill, 2017, Dr Nshala who is also a prominent advocate in
the country said the bill must state categorically that there should be
no need to file cases to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
(MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID).
He said it might take not less than five
years to withdraw from MIGA and ICSID and that there are legal experts
in the country who can assist to draft proposals and stand firmly behind
the government on the matter.
On the Natural Wealth and Resources
(Permanent Sovereignty) Act, 2017, Dr Nshala said all investors in the
mining sector must seek for a mining licence instead of signing
contracts with the government.
According to Dr Nshala, allowing
contracts between the government and the company or certain individual
does not reflect the real meaning of ‘sovereignty’. Bariadi MP (CCM), Mr
Andrew Chenge said the new government approach on the utilisation of
natural resource was promising.
He said there is need for the
reorganisation of the country’s sovereignty in the resource utilisation.
State Mining Corporation (STAMICO) legal expert Mudrikat Kiobya said
the new law should categorically provide for the government shares in
the mining sector, under Stamico
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