The Citizen Reporters
Dar/Arusha. Barely a week after spirited protests by Mtwara residents objecting to the construction of a natural gas pipeline from the southern region to Dar es Salaam, fresh details have emerged, suggesting that the project “would not be feasible.”
Referring to an article by the UK-based The Finical Times, the chairman of the Civic United Front (CUF), Prof Ibrahim Lipumba, told reporters yesterday that key stakeholders in the project, Wentworth Resources, were of the view that constructing a fertilizer manufacturing plant in Mtwara, close to the gas site, could have been more “feasible” and more profitable to the company than pumping the gas to Dar es Salaam.
Wentworth Resources drills the gas at Mnazi Bay in Mtwara, which would be pumped to Dar es Salaam.
“We can supply 80 [bcf] right away but we would have made more money with the [fertilizer] plant,” Bob McBean, executive chairman of Wentworth Resources, was quoted by The Financial Times as saying.
Mr McBean said it would cost his company another $100 million (Sh1.6 billion) to explore for more gas to fill the pipeline, which can take 200bcf.
“Besides that, it is not clear how to raise money to finance the plan. I couldn’t bank one red cent of a Tanesco contract today,” he was quoted as saying.
Prof Lipumba, a seasoned economist, said the government’s decision to build the pipeline went against the best advice of investors who are key stakeholders of the project.
“The decision of the government to force the investor to transmit gas to Dar es Salaam affects the development of the southern zone regions,” Prof Lipumba said.
He added that the fertilizer industry would benefit them and local citizens to get employment, adding that it would facilitate agricultural development and give the Kilimo Kwanza policy a boost.
“The government doesn’t care that the fertilizer would help Kilimo Kwanza policy. We advise them to respond positively to the misgivings of the local citizens, as well as the opinions of the investor,” said Prof Lipumba.
Prof Lipumba’s reactions on the issue adds steam to the anti-pipeline lobby.
Last Thursday, a coalition of seven political parties, which excluded CUF, mobilised thousands of Mtwara residents to protest against the poposed project.
Academicians and government planners have however criticized the protests, warning politicians against playing with people’s sentiments on natural resource exploitation.
“We are much worried by the sweeping statements made even by MPs and researchers. The relevant authorities must act immediately on this if we want to live in peace and harmony,” said the Planning Commission deputy executive secretary Dr. Maduka Paul Kessy.
“On this case, some politicians are evidently misleading wananchi”, lamented Dr. Donald Mmari, the director of Research on Growth and Development with Repoa, a local policy research and development think tank.
He said the huge gas reserves found in the southern regions were for the benefit of the entire country, Lindi and Mtwara included.
Dr. Mmari, an economist and a board member of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), defended construction of the 532-kilometre pipeline, saying it would not exclude the two regions from the benefits of the natural gas because, already, a power generation plant using gas is serving the area.
Natural gas reserves in excess of 33 trillion standard cubic feet (TCF) have been discovered mainly off shore in the two southern regions.
A senior economics lecturer with the University of Dar es Salaam
(UDSM), Dr. Onesmo Ndanshau, condemned last Thursday’s protests in Mtwara against the Sh. 2 trillion Chinese-funded pipeline whose construction started recently.
But a senior lecturer with the Moshi University College of Cooperatives and Business Studies (MUCCOBS), Prof. Edwin Moshi, said the Mtwara protests were a wake-up call for the authorities to ensure people benefited from natural resources in their vicinity.
He said now that huge gas reserves had been discovered in the two regions, the government should take deliberate measures to improve social amenities in Mtwara and Lindi and give residents of the area priority in employment.
He advised the government to address the demands of the people in the two regions by investing some gas business-derived revenues into development projects. “We should guard against courting the sort of situation that is rocking Nigeria’s Niger delta”, he warned.
Reported by Aloyce Mpandana and Zephania Ubwani |
No comments :
Post a Comment