Summary
·
The
government plans to take decisive action over abandoned horticulture estates in
Arusha Region as part of wider efforts to boost the multi-million-dollar
industry
Arusha. Finally, the government has said it will act decisively on the abandoned horticulture estates in Arusha in its new bit to boost the multi-million dollar industry.
According to the Bank of Tanzania
(BoT), the country earned $289.6 million from horticulture exports last year.
This was, however, a drop from
$378.6 million that was exported in the previous year (2021).
And yesterday, the government said
two of the commercial farms will be retaken by the state while the other five
will have to wait as they have pending cases in court.
The state will ensure that terminal
benefits amounting to billions of shillings for hundreds of workers forced into
redundancy is paid.
The minister for Agriculture Hussein
Bashe said the government has decided to intervene in order to get the farms
back in production.
He revealed this at Usa River
township, the heart of horticultural production along the Arusha-Moshi highway,
yesterday when responding to concerns raised on the ruined farms.
“I want to assure you; the
government has not failed to address uncertainties regarding the closed farms,”
he told hundreds of Arumeru residents, some of them jobless after the farms
were abandoned.
They had turned up at Usa River
township where President Samia Suluhu Hassan briefly stopped to hear their
grievances.
The minister admitted that much
concern was with the 209 acre Kiliflora estate which was once leading in the
production of exotic flowers for export as the name suggests.
He said the estate which, according
to him, was a partnership between a local and foreign investor was one of the
beneficiaries of a bank loan.
“The loan was extended by TIB Bank
but had allegedly not been accounted for or was not channeled for the intended
use.
“Now the farm will be retaken by the
government,” he stated, noting that the ministry had reached out to the Arusha
regional commissioner’s office on the matter.
He added that the process of
settling Sh3.4 billion being the terminal benefits of hundreds of former
employees at the farm.
“Former workers will be paid very
soon. In fact, this will be resolved within a month,” he pointed out.
The farm, he further said, will be retaken
by the ministry of Agriculture which will, in turn, hand over to new investors.
Kiliflora was one of the oldest
flower farms in the country and used to generate $6.4 million annually for
exports at its peak.
A recent visit by The Citizen to the
site was deplorable as the high tech irrigation networks and other machinery
have all broken down.
Kiliflora is a brand name for two
estates, one of them being Kiliflora Usa River, a few kilometres from where
President Hasssan made a stopover.
The other is Kiliflora Nduruma, 94
acre farm, much closer to Arusha city but also in a sorry state with
dilapidated abandoned structures.
Mr Bashe did not mention the rest of
the abandoned estates by name but hinted that their fate would largely depend
on the decision of the court.
He insisted, however, that the
government was keen to see the estates continuing with horticultural farming.
“Horticulture crops earn the economy
more per unit area than other export or traditional crops,” he explained.
One of the ex-horticultural farms,
Tanzania Plantation had been earmarked for sisal cultivation by its new
investor.
However, the minister stressed that
preference should be given to new investors in horticulture as Arusha has
comparative advantage in the sub sector.
For the past two decades, the
horticulture sub-sector has registered a faster growth averaging 10 percent
than any other in agriculture.
From a relatively new sub sector in
the late 1990s, it has grown to a robust industry accounting for 30 percent of
agricultural GDP.
Although horticulture was impacted
by Covid-19 pandemic like other sectors, it was the closure of farms in Arusha
which added salt to injury.
In less than five years - even
before the outbreak of the pandemic- decaying machinery, tonnes of debris and
dilapidated structures had become the hallmark of the once evergreen farms.
Kiliflora Usa River, Kiliflora
Nduruma and Arusha Blooms alone are reported to have accumulated bank loans
amounting to Sh29.8 billion not paid back.
Industry players intimated to The
Citizen recently that the closure of three and other farms deprived the economy
of $20 million in expert revenue per year.
The abandoned horticulture estates
in Arusha have been raised several times by the local politicians, many saying
it has led to unemployment and the declining economy of the region.
The first salvo yesterday was fired
by the Special Seats MP for Arusha Zainabu Swai who said the closure has
rendered over 500 workers jobless.
She implored President Hassan to
intervene in the matter since “horticulture farms are important for the Arusha
economy”.
Her concerns were echoed by the
regional CCM chairman Zelothe Stephen who was much agitated by failure to
settle the terminal benefits of hundreds of workers laid off.
Arusha regional commissioner John
Mongela said the land disputes that are common in Arusha have been compounded
by closure of the horticulture estates.
President Hassan did not respond
directly to the closed farms but told hundreds of citizens that her
administration would address the issue.
i
No comments :
Post a Comment