SUMATRA SHOULD ACT ON PASSENGER SAFETY

The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra) is a multi-sector agency established in 2001 by an Act of Parliament to regulate road, railway and marine transport.
Over the period that Sumatra has been overseeing transportation in these areas, some of the major challenges have remained for failure to address them adequately.
For example, while road transportation has developed with the construction of many roads, and travelling made easier even in some of the country’s rural areas, adherence to road safety rules remains poor.
It is acknowledged that passenger transport within the country has progressed over the past 20 years tremendously reducing travel time.
On a wider scope, transport in the Eastern African region, has picked up momentum linking countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Stakeholders deserve kudos for the progress made, save for a few remaining patches which are being addressed.
But while the road infrastructure has improved, supervision of the laws to ensure that standards are observed so as to avoid accidents leaves a lot to be desired.
Preventable accidents continue to claim human lives. It is not so much the accidents that cause the heavy loss of human life, but rather the lack of skills and means to save lives.
It is startling to learn that not much has been done to create safeguards in the areas of railways and marine transport.
It is well understood that Tanzania is endowed with large and massive water bodies, ranging from fresh river water to oceans.
Over the period, again, transport in this terrain, has grown, if not necessarily improved, with increase in the number of marine vessels.
It is quite clear, however, that the rise in the number of vessels is not supported with the equivalent number of safety equipment, units, staffing and necessary skills to address issues pertaining to possible marine disasters.
Opening a workshop on the 2010 Manila Amendment to the International Convention on the (STCW) for Seafarers 1978, in Dar es Salaam on Monday, Sumatra acting Director General Ahmad Kilima said marine accidents can be reduced substantially if skills are imparted and safety tools availed to seafarers.
He acknowledged that the human factor was critical in enhancement of maritime safety, pointing out that more than 80 per cent of such accidents are attributable to human error. Yet during all this period, as a country we have not done enough to address marine safety problems.
Since the MV Bukoba marine tragedy in 1996, Tanzania has subsequently witnessed a number of marine accidents — the Mv Spice Islander in Zanzibar being the most recent of them. What is more poor human judgement was a major cause of the accident, as shown by the special presidential report.
A more intensive skills training, coupled with provision of means to deal with emergencies is sorely needed.
As marine transport develops and becomes more popular, there is a need to ensure that Sumatra develops more viable mechanisms and equipment to effectively deal with marine disasters.
Short of this we are likely to turn the country’s rivers, lakes and oceans into marine passenger graveyards.

CAG FOREST FINDINGS SHOCK TO THE PUBLICS

Controller and Auditor General Ludovick Utouh on Friday made a shocking revelation - that only four per cent of forest harvesting in the country was done legally.
Unveiling Performance Audit Report on the Management of Harvesting Forests by Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Utouh said at least 96 per cent of the harvesting was done illegally and was the cause of deforestation and environmentally related problems.
He laid part of the blame for the illegal cutting down of trees on the government, saying: “There is no effective control in the forestry sector...legal tree cutting accounts for only 4 per cent.”
He reveals that illegal forest harvesting is becoming more serious, due to poor planning and lack of control strategies on the part of the responsible ministry.
The audit also revealed that the Natural Resources and Tourism ministry does not adequately monitor forest harvesting activities to ensure the set controls were functioning well, pointing out that many forest reserves in the country were without management plans (FMP).
According to the CAG explained forest harvesting licences were issued even when one had no approved FMP, one of the requirements for a forestry authority to grant the document for harvesting forest products.
He faults the mechanism set up by the ministry to control issuing of licences at district level, saying it created loopholes for districts to issue the document and even transit passes in the absence of approved FMPs.
“It is impossible to control forest harvesting without having an approved FMP,” he cautioned.
Shocking? Yes. But the public is also left asking many questions. For a start, can the ministry tasked with looking after forests has the responsibility to explain to the public why it has been lax in taking of such a precious public resource?
Can we as a nation convincingly talk of working to sustain the environment and to continue supporting life? Of tackling climate change?
We all know only too well that allowing uncontrolled harvesting of forests is to invite all the climatic negatives such as droughts, floods and extreme weather fluctuations.
We are aware of the many rivers in various parts of the country that were formerly reliable sources of water for large communities of people, but have seen levels drop, affecting power and agricultural production, not to mention water for domestic use.
It is known that the ministry is not allocated all the budgetary resources it needs to fully carry out its work of forest monitoring and control.
But it cannot escape blame for not doing enough to conserve the resource and to capture all the potential fees and levies from harvested forest products to boost its budget.
For the public the scale of plunder of the country’s forest resources revealed by the CAG report cannot be explained away by laying the blame on lack of resources.
Unless the ministry responds convincingly to the findings revealed by the CAG, the public will be entitled to think that the ministry officials are abetting a crime against the whole citizenry of this country, aided by taxpayer funds. And this is unacceptable.

THE BEST WAY TO TAP OUR MINERAL WEALTH

Tanzania`s extractive industry is growing, as more resources are discovered. They include gold, base metals, diamonds, ferrous minerals, variety of gemstones, besides the world’s renowned tanzanite (blue zoisite) as well as rare metals.
Despite this richness, the industry is yet to play its part in transforming the economy as has happened in such economies as South Africa and Botswana to name just two.
The industry’s contribution to the GDP stands at only 2.3 per cent though plans are afoot to see it grow to 10 per cent according to the Development Vision 2025.
The major reason for this backwardness is that mining needs massive resources in terms of technology, which the country does not have.
The other ailment of mining in Tanzania is that this sector is still haphazardly organised despite having a number of lobbies. For instance, we only know that Tanzania has a land mass about 1 million square kilometers, but it is not quite clear whether many of its mineral potentials have been quantified. Up to now only 20 percent is mapped.
More important is that even with the little that is being mined, Tanzanians, who are the real custodians of this wealth, have yet to benefit much.
The report by our sister paper, The Guardian on Sunday, clearly states that in the past three years, Tanzania sold minerals to the tune of 7.2trn/--- equivalent to 50 per cent of this year’s government budget. Despite the huge sales, only 315bn/- (only 4.4 percent) went into the government coffers in terms of royalty.
One would claim that Tanzanians have been benefiting in terms of jobs, infrastructure construction as well as provision of social services. But the amount that goes into paying for these is negligible as many undertakings include jobs that are done by foreigners.
These are some of the diseases of this grand sector which if turned around could spur the economy into a middle income nation.
What therefore is the way forward?
First there is a need for Tanzania to reorganise mining activities and bring more of its people into the centre of the production, processing and marketing business.
What is happening at the moment is not organised mining despite there being government agencies like Tanzania Mineral Audit Agency (TMAA), State Mining Corporation (Stamico) that monitor some of the processes.
It is the irony of having the selling and buying and processing centres of tanzanite outside the country that prompted calls for its domestication. We all know that these have direct and indirect benefits to the economy.
The country must continue to vigorously pursue this approach at least for the gemstones for a start, if it is serious about ensuring more benefits flow into the economy.
Policy reforms, followed by close supervision of the domestication processes are bound to bear positive benefits to the economy.
These and many others are but some actions which Tanzania can take in the interim as it struggles to build capacity to tap its huge mineral and gas resources for the benefit of all. We believe this is the way to go.

WAR ON CORRUPTION: TIMES`S RUNNING OUT

There are things that are so rare or bizarre and therefore so hard to believe that, whenever they happen, one just cannot help harping on.
One such thing is the fact that there is still abundant evidence of corruption, recklessness, mismanagement of financial and other resources and lack of accountability in our public service despite decades of efforts to rein in these vices.
Time comes when one qualifies for pardon for pitying government agencies such as the Office of the Controller and Auditor General for working so diligently and patriotically but, since they don’t have teeth that really bite, end up merely barking, barking, and barking.
Some public officials fall under the same category comprising people dying to ensure that our country becomes a better and better place to live, only for circumstances beyond their individual control to undermine their efforts.
The problems emanating from the conspiracy of these agents of sabotage would have been much easier to contain than actually happens if the power and influence of constructive change always outweighed whatever it is that forces out to give society a hard time rely on in perpetrating their evil ways.
But, alas, we all know of numerous cases of wrong triumphing over right as we hopelessly look on when even the most inconsequential or mutest of interventions would have made world of difference.
Only as recently as earlier this week, a wildlife conservation and development stakeholder was heard recommending the purchase and deployment of state-of-the-art helicopters as part of the government’s strategy to combat poaching in the country’s national parks, game reserves and wildlife management areas.
As the plan was being floated, media reports talked of corrupt civil servants diverting to eight unlicensed or ‘phantom’ dispensaries medical supplies worth 83 million/- the government had meant for public use in Kilwa District between 2007 and 2010.
According to the latter reports, it’s much the same civil servants who had masterminded the scheme under which six of the health facilities were granted registration even before being registered.
What the observer advocating the deployment of modern helicopters in the war on poaching may have forgotten to consider was that the human conscience plays a much bigger and more decisive part in wars than even the most sophisticated of weapons can ever do.
Whoever thinks to the contrary should tour any of our wildlife sanctuaries one of these days and find time to go to the root of the serious drop in the population of animal species such rhinos, leopards, tree-climbing lions and elephants.
With so many people so viciously preying on public resources without the slightest fear of facing justice, it remains to be seen what little will be left of the likes of the Serengeti, Katavi, Manyara and Ngorongoro national parks and Selous Game Reserve.
Likewise, with efforts to tame ferocious undercurrents in the form of so-called ghost workers, projects and programmes yet to come to anything much, we need to put in place mechanisms that would really help us wage a winning war against corruption and other vices. Any further indifference or complacency will prove suicidal.

WHY WE CAN’T EAT POLICIES

Agriculture is the foundation of Tanzania’s economy, yet it has been stunted by poor implementation of policies. The sector accounts for almost half the national income and three-quarters of merchandise exports. It is also the primary source of food and employment opportunities for about 80 per cent of the population.
The government announced the “Kilimo Kwanza” initiative with much fanfare in 2009.  It was meant to revolutionise the sector by 2015. But three years to the deadline, agriculture has yet to register any tangible progress. 
If anything, only members of the business community have profited from the project.  But even they are implementing only a segment of the seventh of 10 pillars of the initiative requiring them to supply agricultural machinery and implements.
Little has been done to implement other equally important pillars, such as the first—which lays emphasis on transforming peasants into commercial farmers and promoting medium and large-scale farmers.
The main problem with agriculture in Tanzania is dependence on unreliable and irregular weather patterns. The country could get round this by investing in irrigation rather than relying on unreliable rainfall in a time of climate change.
Fresh water abounds in rivers, lakes and underground sources and irrigation would triple agricultural output. But to get to that point, land would have to be surveyed and registered if it is to be of interest to peasants. Moreover, the warehouse receipts system must be developed to lift peasant farmers from primitive subsistence agriculture.

HELP YOUNG FOOTBALLERS MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS

Many of our aspiring soccer stars seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place.  There are hundreds of young players in Tanzania who have to make a tough choice between concentrating on their studies and playing soccer on a full-time basis.
The choices have been made even tougher by the tens of millions of shillings that major clubs set aside each year to rope in the best players.  The result is that a significant number of players sign for major local clubs while they are still in school after failing to resist the lure of money.
There are instances of secondary school students being offered up to Sh5 million to join the big Dar es Salaam-based clubs.  For a 17-year-old who has never laid his hands on Sh50,000, let alone a million shillings, this is a lot of money, and it’s easy to see why talented players are dropping out of school in record numbers to devote their time and energy to soccer.
However, this does not always turn out to be a wise decision, and examples abound of players who have ended up in the gutter after their playing days are over, courtesy of their failure to make informed choices.
Young players who are dreaming of breaking into the big time before completing their studies should be made to understand that soccer players have an extremely short shelf-life.  Experts generally agree that ten years is the most that a player can feature at the highest level, especially in developing countries such as Tanzania.
Parents have a key role to play in guiding their children and help them make the right decisions that will benefit them in the future.  Parents and guardians must never allow money to cloud their thinking, and should help their children set long-term goals instead of making rash decisions they could live to regret.

NO TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Though Tanzanians have a reputation for being peace-loving, this does not appear to apply on the domestic front. Society can thrive only when members of each basic unit—the family—support, love, understand and care for each other.
Yet intimate partner violence, physical aggression, forced intercourse, early child marriage and human trafficking are still part of the fabric of our society. A recent study by the World Health Organisation reveals that 48 per cent of Tanzanian women have experienced violence in their lifetime.
About one third of them told no one of their experience and 60 per cent had not sought help from any formal service or authority. The majority of women remain in violent relationships because leaving would mean losing their children, homes and other property.
Another study carried out in Moshi between 2002 and 2003 found that 21 per cent of 1,444 women interviewed were threatened with physical abuse or coerced into intercourse by a partner.Analysis of intimate partnerships reveals that the violence emerges from deeper cultural assumptions about women and their place within relationships, families and communities. 
We are delighted to hear that the ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children has formed a special committee to tackle this social malady.This notwithstanding, a national awareness campaign is required to root out the oppressive mindset that treats women so contemptuously.