BY CORRESPONDENT DAVID
9th December 2013
They were speaking during a dialogue on the position of Tanzanians in the exploitation of the country’s natural resources, organised by the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA) in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
They attributed the country’s poverty, despite having abundant natural resources to lack of good governance and control over how the resources are exploited.
Prof Athanas Kauzeni said Tanzania is endowed with natural resources not found elsewhere in the world, but the country has remained poor due to lack of clear laws and proper supervision to tap the benefits for national development.
He also cited poor technology, lack of capital by Tanzanians and poor supervision of the exploration as other hindrances.
Prof Kauzeni said experience has shown that foreigners are given more priority than Tanzanians, arguing that citizens must now be empowered to own the resources for the benefit of the country.
For his part the Chairman of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) Dr Reginald Mengi said that it is surprising that while Tanzania is a wealthy country, its people are suffering from poverty due to poor management of the resources.
He said that in order to make sure that the natural gas that has been discovered in the country benefits the future generation too, there should be clear and specific plan for the exploitation of the resource as was done by Norway.
Dr Mengi said that it was the intention of TPSF to ensure that the resource does not become a curse instead promotes the development of the people.
He said that there have been perceptions that Tanzanians do not have enough capital to invest in the gas sector, arguing that the presence of the resource was enough capital for the citizens to get involved in the gas economy.
He clarified that the private sector in the country is not questioning the 65 per cent stake which shall be held by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) as stated in the Natural gas Policy of 2013, but was asking to be allowed to participate in the exploitation of the remaining 35 percent with foreign investors.
“We need the foreign investors, but they must collaborate with Tanzanians…Tanzanians have the capacity to engage in big business because business is all about techniques,” he said. He added that the country’s resources can bring a lot of development in the country if locals are well empowered through clear policies and laws on the use of the resources.
Ubungo MP John Mnyika said Tanzania is one of the countries that have started to experience resource curse due to poor leadership.
He said in almost all areas with natural resources people are involved in fighting because the resources in the areas do not benefit them.
He said the new Constitution must have a clause specifying how Tanzanians can own and benefit from their resources.
Responding to the arguments Minister for Energy and Minerals Prof Sospeter Muhongo said Tanzanians have already been given opportunities to get involved in the exploitation of the natural resources in the country.
He said local companies own 70 per cent of the natural resources in the country while foreigners have 25 per cent with the remaining five per cent being joint ventures.
Speaking on the gas economy, Muhongo insisted that investing in the gas sector needs large capital.
He called on Tanzanians who have the money to apply to TPDC for allocation of gas blocks from tomorrow.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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