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Govt: Care needed on agreement with TICTS
2008-05-05 09:29:36
By Judica Tarimo
The government cannot hurriedly terminate its controversial contract with the Tanzania International Containers Terminal Services (TICTS) as recently recommended by the National Assembly, a deputy minister has declared.
Infrastructure Development deputy minister Milton Mahanga, whose ministry oversees the operations of the country`s ports, told this paper in Dar es Salaam late last week that the termination can be effected only after the legal issues relating to the contract are settled.
``You cannot terminate their services just like that Both sides (the government and TICTS) had signed the contract. If we are going to terminate it, we must sit down with our partner (TICTS) and present our intention to do revoke it,`` he noted.
At its just-ended ordinary sessions in Dodoma, the National Assembly said the contract had failed to deliver as expected and recommended that it be terminated immediately.
Dr Mahanga said that negotiations on the modalities of terminating the contract would start soon, adding: ``The government negotiation team has already been formed. We hope we will soon come to the table to discuss the matter as recommended by the National Assembly.``
He said a range of possibilities and options should be expected in the course of negotiations between the government and TICTS.
``TICTS could accept our plans to terminate the contract or they could choose to reject it and resort to court action… So, obviously, the government needs to be prepared for all options and possibilities,`` he elaborated.
The deputy minister went on: ``That`s why I am saying the government team (at the planned negotiations) will execute its duties as per National Assembly resolution. We will come up with our own report on the matter for later tabling in the House.``
He called for patience and understanding from wananchi ``as we work on this sensitive issue``, pointing out that the public would be briefed on any developments after the report is tabled in the next (June to August) House Budget sessions.
Dr Mahanga kept harping on the need to move especially cautiously ``on this delicate issue because it revolves around the law which both parties to the contract must scrutinise thoroughl``.
He said he was sure the negotiations would centre on the terms of the contract and how the termination could be effected.
The National Assembly resolved that the contract, which drew raging criticism from a number of MPs, be terminated immediately as proposed in a private motion by Mbozi East (CCM) legislator Godfrey Zambi.
In his motion, tabled in the House under a newly introduced parliamentary procedure, Zambi contested the legality of the modalities used by the third-phase (Benjamin Mkapa) government in controversially extending the contract to TICTS by a whole 15 years even before the initial ten years were over.
The motion was supported by detailed evidence, some of it written, directly linking immediate former president Mkapa and former cabinet minister Basil Mramba to the sanctioning of the extension of the contract.
Most legislators who contributed to debate on the motion described the contract as inherently null and void and deserving immediate abrogation.
The debate was followed by a House resolution officially blessing the MPs` recommendation but it is only now that the government is explaining what is expected to come next.
There have been charges that TICTS, a company said to be chaired by former minister Energy and Minerals minister Nazir Karamagi, is too inexperienced and inefficient to reduce the congestion of containers at the Dar es Salaam port.
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