Transporters spend less time along Central Corridor

TRUCK and bus plying along the Central Corridor now save up to 78 per cent of weighbridge stoppage times, thanks to the directive by President John Magufuli to allow transit trucks to stop at only three instead of maximum of eight weighbridges on Tanzania side.

An analysis done by the Central Corridor Transit Transportation Facilitation Agency (TTFA) has shown that drivers now spend only 48 minutes on average at weighbridges instead of nearly four hours before President Magufuli’s instruction in April 2016.

The analysis, which was done from data collected by TTFA’s flagship project, Central Corridor Transport Observatory (CCTO) with support from Trademark East Africa (TMEA), revealed that from June 2015 to April 2016 haulers spent an average of 222.4 minutes (3.42 hours) on weighbridges between the Dar es Salaam Port and the borders between Tanzania and Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda up to Congo DR.

However, since President Magufuli’s pronouncement in April, that transit trucks and buses should only weigh at Vigwaza (Coast Region), Njuki (Singida) and Nyakahura (Shinyanga), they now spend only 48 minutes, which is 22 per cent of time they lost before.

Other weighbridges installed between Dar es Salaam and the western borders include Mikese (Morogoro), Kihonda (Morogoro), Nala (Dodoma), Mwendakulima (Shinyanga), Kyamyolwa (Kagera) and Mutukula (Kagera).

Weighbridge crossing time is calculated by subtracting arrival time of the truck or bus at the weighbridge from its departure time at the weighbridge based on Global Positioning System (GPS) survey data. “Live GPS devices are installed on the trucks when the journey starts and monitored throughout the route to capture time and delays,” say Ally Kakomile, Survey Supervisor for CCTO.

For transit trucks or buses to be able to enjoy the pleasure of stopping only at three weighbridges, they need to obtain special stickers designed by the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications at $40 each, which is paid once.

According to the ministry’s procedures, the haulers are required to apply for the stickers to the Permanent Secretary (PS), while indicating the details of the vehicles and the transit route expected to ply. However, as of July 28th, 2016 only 254 transit trucks had obtained the stickers, which represent less than 2 per cent of the total of 13,000 transit trucks registered by government.

A representative of Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATOA) noted that Ministry’s decision to introduce stickers which includes a cost of $40 per sticker was one of the factors discouraging transporters from acquiring the said stickers.

TATOA also said that the stickers provided only consider one route per truck/bus forgetting that some trucks could change routes (between Central and Dar es Salaam corridors) depending on the destination of the cargo. This, therefore, has created a situation where a single truck will need multiple stickers (2 or 3).

“For transporters with 200 trucks, 3 stickers will cost lot money that’s why transporters opt to weigh their trucks in all 7 or 8 weighbridges depending on your destination (Uganda or Rwanda/Burundi/Congo DR),” said the officer who preferred anonymity.

Mbeya RC issues 7-day ultimatum to defaulting water project contractors

MBEYA Regional Commissioner Mr Amos Makala has issued a seven-day ultimatum to all contractors for abandoned water projects in Mbeya District Council to conclude their work, failure of which strict legal measures will be instituted against them.

Mr Makala issued the order over the weekend during his tour to water projects implemented in the district where he learnt that most of them were abandoned while others had a number of shortfalls.

Despite reports showing that some projects were completed, it was discovered that they have not been useful to the people and had many shortfalls, which needed to be worked on for the projects to be sustainable.

“It seems that all contractors ran away from these projects since June last year. Some of them failed to proceed with the work due to financial constraints. But others were paid their money and yet they abandoned the projects,” Mr Makala observed.

He added: “I want all the contractors to come back and conclude their work… we will prosecute those who have abandoned the projects while they had already been paid if they won’t heed to this order … the government cannot accept such loss while people have no access to water,” Mr Makala vowed.

He however, noted that through the tour, he also discovered a number of shortfalls within the region, including poor supervision of the projects, lack of skilled personnel and poor cooperation between the water department and the council.

Following the situation, the RC formed a committee comprised of four people to investigate all water projects in the area and give recommendations basing on the findings.

Mid-last month, during the commemoration of the 6th Africa Water Week, Minister for Water and Irrigation, Engineer Gerson Lwenge said that government has placed priority on water sector by allocating 1 trillion/- in this year’s budget. Mr Lwenge said that through the budget, the stalled projects will be revived and new ones implemented to make sure that the entire population in the country has access to the precious liquid.

He said the government has gone further in improving water access in the country whereby currently the rural population access the precious liquid by 65 per cent while in urban by 75 per cent.

EA business leaders urge heads of state to maintain political stability

BUSINESS leaders in the East African Community (EAC) have appealed to Heads of State in the regional bloc to maintain political stability towards favourable business and investment environment for the private sector to operate smoothly.

The call was made here by the Chairperson of the East African Business Council (EABC), Mr Felix Mosha, when briefing journalists after the council’s board meeting. Mr Mosha in particular appealed to the leaders to address the political confusion in South Sudan to enable businesspersons in the bloc to operate in friendly environment.

The business leader pointed to the fact that member states of the EAC face different challenges for business and investment which respective countries need to iron out. “Each country in the regional bloc faces dissimilar challenges which need to be addressed to boost trade and investment between the countries,” Mr Mosha said.

Officiating at the EABC’s board meeting earlier, the Secretary General of the EAC, Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, pledged to grant maximum cooperation to business community in the regional bloc to operate without hindrances.

It was the first meeting for the EAC’s top technocrat and the business community in the EAC since Amb Mfumukeko took over the position. “I pledge to closely cooperate with the EABC in addressing various challenges facing the private sector within the bloc,” he promised.

Delegates at the meeting urged member countries in the EAC to put in place favourable and harmonised policies to link business persons in the regional grouping.

A member of the EABC board from Tanzania, Mr Kakee Dharwal, stressed on the need by the member countries to draft harmonised policies to enable the private sector operates smoothly.

The sentiments were shared by Mr Jimmy Kadeho, who urged further that the countries should maintain political stability for private sector to operate.

Samia hails PBZ Bank for opening up more on Tanzania Mainland

THE Vice-President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, has commended the People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) for embarking on plans to open more branches in Tanzania mainland.

She was speaking after visiting the PBZ Bank pavilion at the Ngongo’s Nanenane Exhibition Grounds in this southern Tanzania’s Indian Ocean-side municipality. Ms Hassan noted that the bank’s move to open a new branch in Mtwara Region strategically aimed at boosting business and offer services to residents in all Southern Tanzania regions.

“I would like to commend you for opening branches in Tanzania Mainland, including the one you plan to open in Mtwara recently,” she said.

Earlier, PBZ Bank Marketing Manager, Mr Mohamed Nuh, said the bank was looking forward to opening a new branch in Mtwara by the end of this month. He said so far, PBZ has a total of 11 branches across the country and that Mtwara Branch will increase the tally to 12 branches. “

We have a total of 11 branches on both Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland. We are focusing at opening more branches in various regions on Tanzania Mainland in the near future,” he said. According to Mr Nuh, PBZ Bank’s management is considering opening another branch in Dodoma after that of Mtwara and later Arusha and Mwanza regions respectively.

“Our focus now is on opening a new branch in Mtwara. We will then go to Dodoma, Arusha and later Mwanza.

All these are still plans but we hope that they will be implemented with time,” he said. Mr Nuh said that the bank aims at establishing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) banking in Mtwara purposely to support entrepreneurs in the region.

He said PBZ is doing everything in its capacity to support the government initiatives in building up greater financial inclusion. “We are looking forward to support SMEs in the southern regions. PBZ is supporting the government in building financial inclusion,” he reiterated.

The People’s Bank of Zanzibar Limited was established on June 30, 1966, in accordance with the Zanzibar Companies Decree (Cap 153). It is wholly owned by the government of Zanzibar.

It is one of the oldest commercial banks in Tanzania. It is also the only bank in Tanzania with its head office in Zanzibar. It dominates the Zanzibar market with about 50 per cent of the market share.

Dodoma Airport expansion set for completion end August

THE ongoing expansion and upgrading of Dodoma Airport is expected to be completed by the end of this month thus allowing big airplanes to land and take off.

The expansion of the airport will also improve air transport in the central zone regions.

Minister for Works, Transport and Communication Professor Makame Mbarawa expressed satisfaction with the speed at which the contractor is implementing the project, saying that the work will be completed as per set contractual period.

He said to date, 80 per cent of the work has been done within 45 days since the commencement of renovation work.

The speed used to rehabilitate the airport will also be applied in the construction of other airports in the country to improve their status. “We believe that with this speed the contractor and supervisor will complete this work as per contractual time to allow big aircraft to land and takeoff.

Upon completion, the airport will enable aircraft with capacity of between 70 and 90 passengers to land and take off,” Mr Mbarawa said. Supervisor of the project form Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), Mr Mbila Mdemu, said that rehabilitation and expansion work was being done day and night basing on quality and standard assuring that it will be completed as planned.

“We were given this work; we assure you that it will be completed as per directives/ to allow people surrounding Dodoma Region and neighbouring regions to enjoy the aviation transport,” he said. The work, which is in its final stages, has included rehabilitation of the aircraft parking bay and runways.

The airport’s expansion and rehabilitation is funded by the government at a cost of 11.8bn/- . Upon completion, it will increase the volume of passenger and cargo traffic to the central zone regions.

Last month, during the laying of the foundation stone for the airport’s upgrading, the Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, said the big airplanes could land at the airport after completion of the upgrading work at the airport, expressing optimism that local airlines, such as Air Tanzania, Precision Air and FastJet would begin flights to Dodoma to cater for growing business.

Also speaking during the laying of the foundation stone, Prof Mbarawa told the PM that the renovation and expansion would be ready for use by air firms after six weeks -- and be able to accommodate bigger planes with the capacity of 90 passengers as well as cargo.

Prof Mbarawa also said the technical designs and consultancy works were both done by local experts rated by Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) and Tanzania Building Agency (TBA). The expansion would cost the government a total of 11.5bn/-

Shady TRA officials face arrest

THE Prime Minister, Mr Kassim Majaliwa, has ordered the arrest of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) staff who charge traders higher taxes above the officially-set rates.

According to the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Majaliwa said there were some TRA officials who wanted to derail the ‘‘good intention by the government” of increasing its revenues through collecting appropriate taxes.

‘’These officials tend to increase the amount of tax above what the traders are supposed to pay, hence making the exercise difficult or look like a punishment to the traders, something which is completely wrong,” he said, adding: “I order that all TRA staff who engage in such malpractice are hunted and held accountable.”

Mr Majaliwa encouraged the traders to report such officials to their respective regional and district commissioners (RCs and DCs) so that measures could be taken against them. ‘’TRA tax collectors who treat the traders unfairly due to personal vendetta against them should be reported; the aim is to enable you to do your businesses smoothly and pay taxes a according to the law, “ he told the traders.

He made the statement on Sunday when addressing regional authorities from Mbeya, Katavi, Song, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Iringa and Njombe regions. He told the RCs and DCs to listen to businesspeople who have genuine complaints over unfair taxes imposed on them.

Premier Majaliwa used the platform to direct the TRA to strengthen the department for tax evaluation to put in place fair amounts of taxes that would not appear to be exploitative to the traders.

Meanwhile, the premier has directed the Immigration Services Department to control dishonest public officials who have been corrupted by illegal immigrants in exchange for permits. ‘’There must be stringent measures to ensure that there is no non-Tanzanian who enters the country illegally.

This is because without doing so, we would be allowing our enemies get into the country. Those who will be found to have entered the country without proper permits should be arrested and charged in court,” he ordered.

Poor control on influx of illegal immigrants into the country, which leads to population increase, has been causing the government to fail to effectively implement its plans aimed at improving the lives of Tanzanians.

The duty to protect the country’s borders does not only rest in the hands of the Immigration Department, Mr Majaliwa pointed out, adding that even the RCs and DCs in border regions were duty bound to check illegal entries and suspicious activity at the borders.

Statistics available at the Immigration Department show that a total of 4,792 illegal immigrants were netted during the period from January to April. The figures indicate that only 3,495 out of a total of 7,441 foreign workers, who were granted residency permits in the same span of time applied for such permits.

‘‘This simply means that a total of 3,998 foreign workers were slogging it out for a living illegally. Some come into this country to pursue economic prosperity. Others are smugglers of counterfeit goods.

And there are sheer opportunists who are keen on improving their tattered livelihoods,” the PM noted.

Mr Majaliwa further reminded all RCs countrywide to continue strengthening security in their areas of jurisdiction to maintain peace, so that Tanzanians could engage in economic activities peacefully.

PCCB saves 9bn/- from foiled bribery attempts

THE Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) has saved a total sum of 8,864,158,680/- following several tips on bribery incidents that were foiled between January and June, this year.

Statistics released by the PCCB recently shows that the anti-corruption bureau received a total of 4,138 cases within the period, whereas 412 case files were opened.

The report shows further that action on 3,701 cases were in progress, whereas 54 have been closed while two case files have been referred to other departments or agencies for action.

It is indicated further that disciplinary action has been taken in relation to 11 cases, while files taken to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) were 131 and those received from him within the same period were 120.

According to the report, files received from the DPP - with his consent to prosecute the cases - were 87, while 29 files were returned with instructions for further investigations. Within the period in question, the PCCB filed 232 new cases before different courts in the court while the ongoing cases in court in different stages were 509.

Between January and June, PCCB secured convictions in 125 cases; while there 152 acquittals.

Some 17 cases were withdrawn while three others were pending at appeals level. PCCB was established under the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Act Number 11 of 2007 (PCCA No. 11/2007).

The Act came about after the repeal of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) Cap 329 (RE 2002). This was after the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania passed the Prevention and Combatting of Corruption Bill of 2007 on April 16, 2007. Former President Jakaya Kikwete assented the bill on June 11, 2007 to make it an Act of Parliament which came into force on July 1, 2007.

The PCCA No. 11/2007 was made to provide promotion and enhancement of good governance and eradication of corruption. Historically, the legal frame work to combat corruption commenced during the colonial era under the British administration.

The Prevention of Corruption Ordinance (PCO) was used by the British colonial government from the 1930s to punish corruption offenders. Subsequently in 1958, the law was repealed by the PCO Cap 400 in 1958.