|
JK: Tanzania earns peanuts from fishing
2008-05-14 10:07:11
By Guardian Reporter
President Jakaya Kikwete has directed Livestock Development and Fisheries minister John Magufuli to form a task force that will investigate why Tanzania earns little from Lake Victoria resources compared to neighbouring Kenya and Uganda.
He issued the directive yesterday in Mwanza when he officiated at the launch of a new fish processing factory dubbed Tanzania Fisheries Development Company (TFBC).
According to him, last year Tanzania earned only 197.7bn/- from fishing, while the neighbouring states achieved a staggering 202bn/-.
``Our neighbours have a small lake area, but they earn more compared to Tanzania.
The task force should establish where shortfalls on revenue collections are and look for ways to control illegal smuggling of fish abroad,`` said Kikwete.
He commended the factory owner, National Investment Company Limited (Nicol), for leading an example of indigenous investors in the sub-sector and challenged its management to protect interests of locals and make it exemplary in producing internationally accepted fish-fillets.
Nicol chairman, Felix Mosha, told the President that the 5.2bn/- factory, whose capacity is processing 60 tons of fish-fillets per day, would give 600 formal and 2000 informal jobs to the locals.
Construction of the factory started in May last year.
Meanwhile, the government announced yesterday it has completed the construction of three major roads under a major infrastructure development programme designed to open up potential areas for economic advancement.
A statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday by the Directorate of Presidential Communication quoted an Infrastructure Development ministry statement saying the roads have been built under the Transport Sector Investment Programme (TSIP).
It named the three main roads as that of Nangurukuru-Mbwemkuru (95 kilometers) Mbwemkuru- Lindi- Mingoyo 95 kilometers and Mkuranga –Kibiti (79 kilometers).
According to the statement, the completed roads have added 269 kilometers to the country’s tarmac road network.
``The three roads are part of the five main roads whose construction is completed and two of them had already been inaugurated by President Kikwete,`` the statement said.
It also said that apart from the completed roads, construction of other roads around the country measuring 1,000 kilometers were at advanced stages.
|
