|
Facilitate policy on natural resources, MPs urge Pinda
2008-02-11 09:05:22
By Guardian Reporters, Dodoma
Two MPs yesterday advised the newly-elected Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda, to facilitate adoption of a national policy that would protect national resources.
President Jakaya Kikwete named Pinda last week to succeed Edward Lowassa, who had resigned after being implicated in the Richmond corruption scandal.
In an interview yesterday in Dodoma, CUF MP Hamad Rashid Mohamed said corruption was rampant in the minerals, natural gas and wild-life sectors, adding that these were the areas that attracted dubious contracts.
``The adoption of a protective and well-defined national policy is inevitable. We should halt the signing of dubious contracts and end corruption in the rich economic sectors. The policy needs to be supported by strict laws that guards national interests when the signing of major agreements takes place,`` said Mohamed.
Likewise, Same-North MP Anne Kilango Malecela (CCM) urged the government to find suitable means to protect national resources—minerals, wildlife, fish and natural gas—and reject harmful conditions imposed by foreign donors.
``Why shouldn`t we emulate the example of Arab states? They are able to manage their own oil without considering first the interests of foreign powers. They have formulated suitable policies and laws to preserve their resources for the benefit of posterity,`` she said.
Absence of appropriate policies and legislation on natural resources had cost the nation billions of shillings through dubious mining contracts, leading to the formulation of presidential probe committees, said the outspoken MP.
The legislator advised the government to honour recommendations made by the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Richmond scandal and embark on detailed investigations that would be accompanied by reviewing of mining and power-generation contracts—including IPTL, Songas, Aggreko and Alston Power rentals.
|
