By Burhani Yakub

Tanga — Twelve people died as 34 survived after their Pemba-bound dhow, which they boarded in Tanga, capsized in the Indian Ocean due to what has been termed “poor weather”.

Tanga Regional Police commander Benedict Wakulyamba said the mishap occurred near Jambe Island, which is not far from the Tanga coastline, at around 2am.

Mr Wakulyamba further said the 34 survivors were rescued by fishermen who happened have been near the point at which the tragedy struck.

He added police are still looking for six other travellers who have been presumed dead, while those who were rescued have been admitted to Bombo Regional Hospital. “A total of 34 people out of 52 people who were aboard the dhow were rescued while 12 bodies were recovered… we are still looking for the missing travellers,” said Mr Wakulyamba.

The police boss said the dhow left Tanga at midnight, having sailed off from an unofficial port located at Sahare.

Speaking to The Citizen, some of the survivors said they left at around 1.15am.

According to Mr Mkubwa Yusuph Hassan (55), one of the survivors, there were 52 passengers as well as cargo, which included rice, potatoes, beans and beer cartons.

Mr Hassan added that the captain of the dhow lost control of the vessel after it was hit by strong waves.

For his part, Mr Mussa Isah Mohamed,37, who was travelling alongside his son, said he saved his life after swimming to one of the fishermen’s boats.

Unfortunately, he said, his son and his brother were not so lucky. “I’m still grieving, I couldn’t save either my son or my brother; the whole thing happened so fast that I couldn’t do anything,” said Mr Mohamed crying.

For his part, an official with the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra), Dr Walukani Luhamba, based in Tanga, accused some boat operators of violating rules and regulations that guide sea travel.

Meanwhile, President John Magufuli yesterday sent his condolences to the regional commissioner and families of 12 people who lost their lives in the dhow accident.

“I’ve been shocked and saddened by the news of the deaths of our fellow Tanzanians. I ask the regional commissioner to convey my deepest condolences,” he said.

By Senator Iroegbu

Abuja — The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has suspended its three-day warning strike that commenced yesterday, after a deal was reached with the government, international oil companies (IOCs), and other stakeholders in the industry over the issues.

Speaking with iournalists at the end of the meeting that lasted over five hours in Abuja, NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, said having been satisfied with the commitment shown by the Ministry of Petroleum over the issues, the union would suspend the strike.

NUPENG had embarked on a three-day warning strike over casualisation, job security issue, non implementation of collectives agreement in the oil and gas sector in the country, and the bakarnisation of the ongoing divestment system that is currently taken place in the idustry.

Meanwhile, the commitment by the IOCs was that all the oil companies should go and address the grey areas concerning welfare issues of their workers and report back their respective ministries within two weeks.

In the same vein, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who presided over the meeting, said it would enforce compliance of the oil companies with agreement reached with the unions in the oil and gas industry.

Also, Ngige directed the oil companies that did not show up for the meeting to appear before it on or before January 24, 2017, failing which the ministry would enforce relevance laws to compel them to appear.

The minister further explained that meeting was to provide lasting solution to the lingering industrial crisis in the oil and gas sector.

He said: “A lot of agreement have been reached but not complied with by the IOCs and the LOCs as petition by the unions. is even more painful and regretful that NNPC has also not live up to their agreements.

“So, the essence of the meeting is for us as re-conciliators to arrest pending strike by NUPENG and PENGASSAN. And for the companies involved whether government or IOCs or LOCs to sit down with us and agree on timelines for the effective implementation of the agreement reached.”

By Enid Ninsiima

Kasese — It is nearly a year ever since activities at Kilembe Copper Mines Limited in Kasese District were put to a halt by National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) as a result of non-compliance to environmental standards.

The project manager, Mr Alex Kwatampora Binego, told Daily Monitor in an interview that they have finalised the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with Nema, the implementing agency, and would soon resume business.

“We are still closed. Our EIA is done but not yet out. We hope to open fully in February or March. We just have few issues to sort out with Nema and government but otherwise, all other issues are done,” Mr Kwatampora said.

The project manager did not give details but disclosed they have to make some remittances as per the agreement.

In February 2016, NEMA wrote to the management of Tibet Hima, a mining company that took over Kilembe Mines Limited in June 2013, warning them about waste management.

In his letter, the Nema executive director, Mr Tom Okurut, said the authority noted with concern that despite numerous reminders and notices to the mining firm advising it to comply with environmental requirements applicable to the Tibet Hima Mining Company Limited (THMCL) mine developments and operations, THMCL has not addressed these issues as needed.

According to February 25, 2016 letter, THMCL was supposed to have addressed the management and disposal of mine tailings.

Mr Okurut argued that before Uganda enacted environmental laws and standards, tailings were dumped in the nearest convenient location including nearby wetlands or rivers but this would introduce sediment and contaminants into those water bodies in many cases adversely affect aquatic life.

He added that some of the worst environmental consequences of mining have been associated with the poor handling of tailings and disposal within nearby rivers.

“Inspection by officers from the authority to Kilembe reveals that the mine tailings from the THMCL activities are either deposited into river Nyamwamba or within the 100 meter river protection zone of the river bank,” Mr Okurut wrote.

NEMA advised that a facility engineered for proper tailings treatment or handling/storage is established by THMCL guided by relevant environmental laws and procedures.

When contacted last Friday, the Kasese District environmental officer, Mr Augustine Kooli, said the operations at Kilembe mines were closed temporarily until the company comes up with (EIA).

By Ademola Adebayo

While it is important to note that the implementation of the 2016 budget would be ongoing till May 2017, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has proposed an increased budget estimate for the mining sector in the 2017 budget proposal.

“Our work plan and budget for the year 2017 is inexorably guided by the provisions of the roadmap, particularly the immediate short, medium and long term targets we have set,” the minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said during a media briefing towards the close of 2016 on the ministry’s journey so far.

According to the minister, the government would continue to work to make the nation’s mining sector more competitive in the global mining space, and relevant to domestic needs and strategic sovereign goals.

Fayemi said the government, in line with the recently designed roadmap, would focus on priority areas of competitive advantage to drive growth of the sector.

Using the roadmap as a strategic guide

According to Dr. Fayemi, specific objectives of the roadmap that would guide the ministry’s work in 2017 and include; the setting up of the Mining Implementation and Strategy Team (MIST) to drive the effective execution of the roadmap; the set-up of the Council of Mining and Mineral Resources, restructuring and reorganisation of the ministry for more efficient operations, and enforcement of established laws and regulations governing the mining sector.

Also contained in the roadmap is the need to effectively expand the coverage, resolution, and access to geosciences data in Nigeria, and the development of the full value chain capacity, from exploration to mines development, to processing and beneficiation. Already, officials saddled with this task have commenced processes that will see Nigeria updating its obsolete geosciences data.

Another prominent feature of the roadmap that the ministry would undertake is the commencement of the process of working with national and state legislatures and governments to address gaps, and resolve conflicts in mineral resource legislation. harmonizing (financial) incentives for attracting mining majors and juniors to Nigeria and catalyse investments in infrastructure.

World Bank support will drive the mining sector

Year 2017 is expected to see the full commencement of the substantive World Bank support programmee – the Mineral Sector Support for Economic Diversification Project (MinDiver) – which will be part of an overall mechanism through which the initiatives of the roadmap are expected to be realized.

According to Dr. Fayemi, MinDiver will be financed primarily through a loan from the World Bank and has been designed to deliver results in three phases: the short-term results (1-2 years post implementation), medium term results (3-5 years) and longer-term results (5+ years), in line with the roadmap.

He noted that “the MinDiver project will seek to develop the downstream sector and enhance competitiveness by providing practical technical assistance based on “proof of concept” investment/transaction and bring assets to a higher developed stage within the conventional mining cycle.”

Opening of bids for Bitumen blocks

Nigeria’s priority minerals will be those for which data exists around their continued commercial viability (e.g. proven reserves). The minister gave seven of such mineral resources as – iron ore, coal, bitumen, limestone, lead/zinc, gold, and barite. They have been identified as key for Nigeria’s domestic industrialization and infrastructure requirements.

“In addition, selective emphasis will be placed on other mineral assets that are critical to existing downstream projects (e.g. manganese for the steel industry). For example, before the end of Quarter 1, 2017, the Bitumen blocks would be available for interested investors to bid,” Fayemi said.

Industry regulation

The establishment of a mega regulatory agency which is critical for the industry is also expected to take effect this year. It is expected to comprise the existing Mining Cadastre Office as well as the Mines Inspectorate, Artisanal and Small Scale Mining; and Mines Environmental Compliance departments, as contained in the approved roadmap. This new agency, according to the ministry, would have the full independence and powers to effectively regulate the industry in a much more transparent and efficient manner, in keeping with global best practices.

Financial sector participation

Given the capital intensive nature of the mining sector, and the highly speculative return on investments especially during exploration, the FG is working with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and others to assemble a $600m investment fund for the sector this year has commenced capacity building on mining finance within banks and financial institutions, in order to build their knowledge assets in the sector.

Accordingly, Dr. Fayemi said given government’s efforts towards increasing the funding and revenue profile of the sector, there is need for all stakeholders to partner with it, take advantage of the available funding provisions and operate in accordance with global best practices in mining to realise the dream of making Nigeria a mining destination.

By Haftu Gebrezgabiher

Efforts made towards manufacturing and renewable energy development reduced country’s vulnerability to price declines.

Ethiopia would not mainly base its economy on minerals and natural gas extraction. The country is rather developing various industrial parks, aiming to be African light manufacturing industries hub.

In a press conference Monday, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn said diversifying industrial parks is government’s priority for it is a reliable path to achieve the set development goals.

“We have drawn lessons from Hawassa Industrial park. It has an economic value of generating over one billion USD annually. And we noticed that by diversifying such industrial parks, we can overcome hard currency shortfalls and unemployment.”

The premier said though various companies engaging in the exploration of mineral ores and natural gas had reported a huge reserve, the sector is not an area of much interest.

His justification bases on the shaky price of minerals and oil. According to him, mineral and oil exporting countries had been worst hit by global price decline. “Ethiopia is able to stand off such risk owing to efforts made towards manufacturing and renewable energy development.

However, he underlined that the government would not impede the flow of Foreign Direct Investment engaging in the extraction of minerals.

Pertaining to hard currency shortage, the premier said the issue is common in countries like Ethiopia that invests 40 percent of their GDP.

He added the government does understand economists’ premise to devalue Birr against the USD. “It is possible to devalue, however, the impact is high in that local companies and exporters will be much alarmed.”

Mentioning last year’s export volume marked increase, Hailemariam noted that the government is working to diversity export items this year.

ANALYSISBy Faustine Kapama

The recent High Court’s decision, confirming the Cybercrimes Act does not abrogate the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, is another sign that the government has been performing its duties for public interests and not otherwise.

A bill for such law was moved by the Attorney General, the government’s chief legal advisor before the National Assembly in April 2015 where it was widely discussed before being endorsed and later accorded presidential assent to become a law of the land.

The objectives of Cybercrimes Act No. 14 of 2015 include, among others, to provide a framework for the protection of individual rights and freedoms against cybercrimes and provide mechanism and framework of combating cybercrimes. Also to establish offences and punishments relating to cybercrimes and to outline rules and procedures for the investigation and prosecutions, to provide for rules on the liability of service providers in relation to crimes and to provide protection of the national economy, financial services against cybercrimes.

The endorsement of the law was received with criticisms from a section of Tanzanians with Advocate Jebra Kambole, believing that such legislation was bad law, went extra miles by knocking doors of the High Court to have several provisions contained therein annulled.

He specifically attacked eight provisions, notably Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38 and 50 of the Act, alleging that they contravened several Articles under the constitution, notably the right to communication and the right to bed hear for individuals.

The grounds upon which Mr Kabole, the petitioner, relied upon ranged from subjective and arbitrary interpretations and application of the Cybercrimes Act by law enforcement organs, infringement of the right to privacy, restriction of the right to freedom of communication and denial of right to be heard.

He had complained that lack of interpretation of words used in some of provisions under the Act, notably unlawfully, intentional, unauthorised person, or data, or information, or access could lead to arbitrary arrest and unjustified actions by the law enforcement organs on various offences. According to him, such provisions were unconstitutional in that they infringed his right to seek, receive and, or disseminate information guaranteed under Articles 16, 17 (1), 18, 21 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of United Republic of Tanzania.

The arguments advanced by the petitioner were vehemently contested by the Principal State Attorney Alesia Mbuya, for the Attorney General, who was the respondent in the matter, that the petitioner had wrongly interpreted the provisions under the Cybercrimes Act because they are in order with the parent law of the land. A panel comprising Judges John Ruhangisa, Winfrida Korosso and Lugano Mwandambo was assigned to determine the constitutionality of the widely criticised law by some activists and ruled that the grounds advanced by Mr Kambole lacked merits.

In determining the matter, the judges were guided by three issues, including whether sections 4 and 5 of the Cybercrimes Act, violates the right to seek, receive and disseminate information as per Article 18 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania. They wanted also to know whether sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19, 22 and 22 of the Act violated the right to liberty enshrined under Article 17 of the Constitution ad that whether sections 38 and 50 of the Act were against Article 13 of the Constitution on individual’s right to be heard.

In determining the first issue, the judges pointed out that the provisions address situations when a person accesses another person’s computer system or cause the computer system to be accessed unlawfully and to become subject to contravening section 4 of the Cybercrimes Act.

What is prohibited by section 5 of the Act, they said, is the intentional and unlawful remaining to computer system to access the computer system, therefore the right to information for one individual has to consider other fundamental rights of others as propounded.

“Whilst we appreciate that [protection of public interest should not delineate other fundamental rights like the right to information, right to movement, right to be heard, it is important to remember that any right is subject to limitation,” the judges say.

They said further that it should be remembered that section 4 of the Act is subject to the application of the Criminal Procedure Act, which regulates criminal proceedings and consequently law enforcers will not only apply the Cybercrimes Act in disregard of other applicable procedures already in existence.

“There is no gainsaying therefore that the provisions of section 4 and 5 of the Act aim at curbing personal attacks and persecution of individuals through use of social media and prevention of cybercrimes, (they) are an attempt to provide framework for all citizens to enjoy that righty,” they said. As regard to the second issue, the judges held that the petitioner’s arguments were speculative to the extent of asking the court to make a determination on constitutionality of the sections on the potential risk of arbitrary application of law by law enforcement organs.

“We are of the view that looking at the said Act objectively one will not fail to find sections which define and describe offences. The sections provide for ingredients of offence and the sentence for each of offences. The provisions cannot be widely drafted to net everyone,” they said.

The judges ruled that sections 4, 5, 6,7,8,9,14,19, 21 and 22 of the Act complained of by petitioner fall within the parameters of Article 17 (2) of the Constitution of United Republic of Tanzania and, therefore, they could not be construed to be repugnant to or inconsistent with such Article of the parent law.

As for the third issue, the petitioner challenged sections 38 and 50 of the Act that they violated Articles 13 of the Constitution over the right to be heard. He had contended that Section 38 allows any application by an authority for a hearing in court to be made ex-parte (in absence of the adverse party). But the judges noted that matters envisaged under section 38 of the Act relate to search and seizure, disclosure of data, expedited preservation, disclosure and collection of traffic data and content data.

According to them, such matters cover at investigation stage. “Under such circumstances, we are, with respect, unable to see any merit in the petitioners’ argument because we do not think that investigation is the final stage in determining the rights of the said individual or service provider where the said data is retrieved from,” they said.

Regarding section 50 of the Act, which empowers the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to compound some offences committed without due considering to the need of the suspect, the judges agreed with the petitioner that it curtail the right to be heard under Article 13 (6) (a) of the Constitution.

They noted that the actions by the DPP are given finality and not amenable to appeal if a suspect voluntarily confessed commission of the offence and such actions are given the status of the High Court order on one part, but on the other part are unique in sense that the aggrieved person could not appeal. “We find this to be an anomaly.

Exercising powers vested in this court by Article 30 (5) of the Constitution and section 13 (2) of the Basic Rights Duties and Enforcement Act, we direct the government through the Attorney General within the period of 12 months to correct the anomaly. “… … failing which the provision should be scrapped off of the statute books for infringing the fundamental right to be heard under Article 13 (6) (a).

” The Director of Government Information Services, Dr Hassan Abbas, describe the judgment as a remarkable one. He says most activists and other stakeholders who raised alarm on the Act had no read the law keenly to appreciate its good intentions in preventing the people from various cyber criminals.

“The judgment is another showcase that the Government of Tanzania had very good and obvious intentions in enacting the law way back in 2015. Everyone should now continue to observing the law,” he points out.

Cybercrime is a challenging offence, which need a global agenda following the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Cybercrime is not a new thing, as it has been there since 20th century due to the development and use of ICTs.

The development of ICTs was expected to connect Africa to the rest of world and establish it as part of the global community. This endeavor exposed Africa to the unintended consequences of the internet (cybercrime).

According to Principal State Attorney Josephat Mkizungo, the manifestations of cybercrime, along with its far reaching and potentially devastating capacity have brought challenges to the governments.

He says that this is due to the fact that the existing laws and institutions were unable to keep up with its alarming rate of growth. Mr Mkizungo, a trial attorney from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Office, says the advancement of the ICTs has made cybercrime a global agenda. Therefore, he says, fighting cybercrime calls for cooperation on an international scale.

COLUMNBy Dr George Kanani

This year 2017, as a nation, we ought to adjust more efforts in the adopting and using e-health so that our country advances steps closer to attaining the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

For instance, an effective tele-health improves healthcare access at lower cost.

The healthcare industry is among the sectors that are enjoying the fruits of technology. The world is now endeavouring to achieve the goal of UHC, where every individual will have access to the healthcare services without financial risk.

The good news is that technology use in health has provided a platform that is proving beyond doubt that this goal can successfully be achieved.

Adoption of e-health in healthcare systems all over the globe has brought some hopes amongst healthcare stakeholders as far as achievement of UHC goal is concerned.

E-health is the use of information communication technologies (ICT) in health and health-related areas at large. E-health is indeed very wide and it incomporates fields like m-health, tele-health, e-health records, social media and e-learning.

Tanzania has already established her own strategy so far and in the health sector strategic plan – IV(HSSP-IV), e-health is clearly elaborated.

Recent survey conducted by the World Health Organisation on e-health adoption rate has revealed that it is very possible to attain the Universal health goal if e-health component is effectively absorbed in a national health system.

Adoptability rate of these e-health components differ very much from one another. M-health is one of the highly adopted e-health type in developing nations compared to the rest, and this is explained by tremendous growth of mobile technology amongst us.

Mobile-health

This is one of the important aspects of e-health which indeed has the potential of changing the dynamics of our health system. In brief, m-health refers to the use of mobile devices like mobile phones, wireless accessory and monitoring devices, for medical and public health benefits. M-health in Tanzania is already operational all over the country.

There are a lot of m-health operational programs in Tanzania to-date. These do serve both urban and rural areas. These m-health programs fall under either of the following; health call centres, community mobilisation/health, reminder of appointments, mobile telehealth, health surveys, patient monitoring, electronic patient information, m-learning and promotion campaigns.

Not all m-health programmes are under government, some are operated privately. Though there is an argument that the impact of m-health is not an immediate one but the role m-health plays towards universal health coverage can never be underestimated.

As long as the number of mobile phone users goes on raising, m-health gives a rare opportunity to be utilised maximally in this year 2017 towards attaining UHC goal.

Tele-health

There is also a good number of operational tele-health programmes in Tanzania. Tele-health is based on the use of ICT to enable interaction between a health care provider and a distant patient; and this may happen on real-time or that interaction may take place in real time basis or store-and-forward basis. For example, tele-radiology, tele-pathology and so forth .

However, these tele-health programmes are subjected to various challenges so far and it is advised that they must be regularly evaluated; extra attention is to be paid to government-sponsored programs.

Electronic health records

These are patient centred records which provide on-time and secure information only to warranted users. A significant number of health facilities so far in Tanzania have adopted electronic medical record system. In this year, 2017, a number of healthcare facilities employing electronic medical record system ought to be increased significantly.

This is the time to begin the initiatives towards establishment of national electronic health record system. Its establishment shall lead to an integrated system of patient management nation-wide.

Social media

Social media is a very crucial means of relaying messages for healthcare facilities and also of receiving and sharing health information amongst individuals.

I wish to say a lot with regards to social media but I better put it this way; watch out when you are using social media this year following enactment of the social media law and be extra cautious to the health information you get from social media.

By Geoffrey Kamadi

Naivasha — Using waste from vegetable and flower production, biogas is providing energy to Kenya’s electricity network

A commercial farm in Kenya has become Africa’s first electricity producer powered by biogas to sell surplus electricity to the national grid, cutting the carbon emissions associated with oil-powered generation.

The Gorge Farm Energy Park in Naivasha produces 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity – more than enough to cultivate its 706 hectares (1,740 acres) of vegetables and flowers, and with sufficient surplus to meet the power needs of 5,000-6,000 rural homes.

The new plant generates not only electricity, but also heat for the farm’s greenhouses, with fertiliser as a by-product.

Gorge Farm, approximately 76km (50 miles) northwest of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is owned by the Vegpro Group, a leading East African exporter of fresh vegetables and its second largest exporter of roses.

Biojoule Kenya, the independent power producer that operates the Gorge Farm plant, signed an agreement to sell electricity to Kenya Power & Lighting Company (KPLC) – the country’s sole power distributor – in 2016.

Biojoule Kenya sells the power to Gorge Farm and to KPLC for $0.10 per kilowatt hour (kWh). Diesel-generated power, by contrast, costs $0.38 per kWh to produce.

“The Gorge Farm plant is physical proof that locally produced feedstock can be used to generate clean and cost-effective power for all Kenyans,” said Mike Nolan, chief operating officer at Tropical Power, a developer of biogas and solar plants in Africa.

It supplied engines for the plant in conjunction with Clarke Energy, a UK-based engine service provider.

SLASHING DIESEL USE

The plant produces biogas through anaerobic digestion, a process in which crop residue from the farm is digested by micro-organisms. The biogas produced is burned in two engines, producing both electricity and heat in a process called cogeneration.

Producing the same amount of energy using diesel would require 5 million litres of fuel annually, Nolan explained, plus the extra fuel required to transport the diesel inland from the port of Mombasa.

Tropical Power says the biogas plant contributes to a 7,000-tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions per year, since the farm does not have to use electricity from the grid produced by oil-fired power stations.

Cogeneration currently makes up a tiny fraction of renewable power sources in Kenya, at 0.7 percent in 2015, according to the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN), the country’s biggest power company.

Geothermal was the biggest contributor to the electricity generation mix, with 49 percent, followed by hydropower at 44 percent. But some experts see room for considerable biogas expansion.

“The potential for biogas generated electricity in Kenya is significant,” said Helen Osiolo, a policy analyst at the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis. She believes biogas could generate between 29 and 131 MW of power, but says the biggest challenge is that the government will not pay enough for it.

“There are concerns that the tariff is too low to attract substantive investor interest,” Osiolo said. In addition, agricultural and municipal waste is in demand for other uses such as fertiliser, which may limit the expansion of biogas generation.

Even though anaerobic digestion of waste to produce biogas is an established technology in Europe and Asia, the concept is still new in Africa at large scale. The technology had been deployed in 45 sites globally before debuting at the Gorge Farm plant.

SOURCE OF FERTILISER

Osiolo says a further barrier to the expansion of the use of biogas is the perception that it requires a substantial amount of raw material in order to produce any meaningful energy output.

However, according to Tropical Power, if organic material or crops from 1 percent of Kenya’s landmass were deployed in anaerobic plants connected to the grid, it would produce the equivalent of the country’s entire current effective installed electrical capacity of around 1,800 MW.

There are further benefits, according to Tropical Power’s Nolan. The 50,000 tonnes of Gorge Farm’s residue that can be used annually for biogas can produce 35,000 tonnes of a natural fertiliser by-product.

That can be used to improve the crop yield of local farms, displacing synthetic fertiliser, he said.

Nolan said thatTropical Power’s experience with the grid operator has been straightforward.

“Our site is located very close to the grid interconnection point and so engineering challenges were minimised,” he said.

– Reporting by Geoffrey Kamadi; editing by James Baer and Laurie Goering

By Ejiofor Alike

Major and independent marketers of petroleum products have raised alarm over outstanding subsidy claims incurred during the subsidy regime, saying their indebtedness to banks is now a whopping $1 billion.

They also warned that unless the claims were paid, they could kill not only their businesses but also worsen the liquidity crisis in the banking sector with the attendant unsavoury implications for fuel supply nationwide.

In a communiqué issued at the end of their meeting in Lagos yesterday, the marketers under the aegis of Independent Petroleum Products Importers (IPPIs) noted that the $1 billion outstanding debt was money borrowed from banks to fund importation during the subsidy regime and has accumulated an interest of N160 billion because of the failure of the federal government to pay the interest on the loans as agreed.

The marketers, comprising Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), said their inability to pay or service the loans, has not only stalled importation of fuel by the private marketers but is also threatening the operations of the affected banks and the country’s financial system.

“Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has initiated intervention programmes for strategic sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, petroleum products importation, and aviation. The CBN’s intervention programmes are primarily to stimulate growth in Nigeria’s foreign exchange (forex) earning capacity, and to prevent collapse of the banking system due to the huge exposure of the banks. The CBN has also offered foreign exchange to IPPIs under a special window aimed at liquidating outstanding matured Letters of Credit at an exchange rate of N305. However, the exchange rate of N197 when Letters of Credit were initially opened for IPPIs and transactions concluded and the current CBN offer rate of N305 is an increase of 55 per cent and a significant rate differential,” the marketers explained.

They said: “This means that for every 15,000 metric tonnes of petrol imported by the IPPIs at a rate of $500 per MT and whose foreign exchange differential claims have not been paid then it means that the cargo of 15,000MT imported at the N197 rate will now be given foreign exchange at the rate of N305. By implication a cargo of 15,000MT at $500 per MT is S$7,500,000 or N1, 477,500,000 at N197 rate or N2, 287,500,000 at N305 rate. If these outstanding payments to IPPIs are made at N305 they would suffer a loss of N810, 000,000 per 15,000MT cargo of petrol. Government’s delay in paying debts to IPPIs and the difficulty they face in procuring forex at equitable rates will likely see the extinction of many of the IPPIs in 2017 thereby creating petroleum products shortages and attendant insecurity,” the marketers added.

The marketers said the problem of the banks was compounded by the fact that they provided billions of dollars to finance the importation of cargoes of petrol by IPPIs.

“They opened Letters of Credit at approximate exchange rate of N197 per dollar. Petrol cargoes were supplied and sold by the IPPIs at the selling prices approved and subsidised by government and the subsidy payments were calculated using the above exchange rate. Now at the beginning of 2017, the banks have not liquidated the Letters of Credit from 2014 because of lack of foreign exchange from the government. The outstanding matured Letters of Credit are currently over $1billion. The Nigerian banks involved and the entire Nigerian banking system is at risk on account of these transactions,” said the marketers.

The communiqué, which was signed by their Legal Adviser, Mr. Patrick Etim, added that there is little evidence that the government has seen the risks in further delaying the payments under the subsidy scheme.

“The exposed situation of the banks is exacerbated by the current trends in the petrol market. When the fixed pump selling price of petrol was increased from N97 to N145 per litre in May 2016, it was based on an exchange rate of N285 resulting in a 45 per cent increase. On June 20, 2016 the Naira was devalued from N285 to N305, which is an increase of seven per cent but the fixed pump selling price of petrol has not been increased. This means that petrol must be subsidised,” the marketers added.

“A key term of the government’s contract with IPPIs is that the subsidy payments shall be paid to IPPIs within 45days of discharge of petrol cargo. It was also agreed that after 45 days the government shall pay the interest charges on the loans taken by the IPPIs to finance the importation of cargoes of petrol. The outstanding interest payments owed to IPPIs is currently over N160 billion,” said the marketers.

The communiqué added that the outstanding claims arose largely from importation of petroleum cargoes authorised by the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government, stressing that since government is a continuum, the contracts of the President Jonathan’s government will remain binding on successive governments.

The marketers appealed to the government not to allow its inactions in handling the critical issues facing banks, airlines, manufacturers, electricity companies and other businesses expose consumers to suffering, adding that honouring contract agreements would help boost local and foreign investments.

COLUMNBy Lusuga Kironde

The bad thing with the Christmas- New Year festive season is that it comes and goes, and within no time you have to go back to your normal hectic life. By the time the next season arrives, so much may have changed.

If you are lucky to be around then, somebody dear to you may not be.

Somebody in good health today may be seriously ill, next season. Somebody who was enjoying his life as a free person may be behind bars come December.

A person in high echelons of authority today may be out on the street by then, and so on. But before we completely forget this year’s Christmas and New Year festivities, let us revisit what the various writers brought to our attention as the festive season was approaching.

The Good Citizen on Saturday (24 December (p. 12) carried a warning: “Don’t indulge in excessive drinking no matter what”. The writer concludes: “It is wise for one to refrain from imbibing an excessive amount of alcohol because in as much as the festive season is a time of joy, it is also a time when people are quite ‘carless’ with how they conduct themselves.

Be careful”. You have surely heard of the warning: “Do not drink and drive”. Since most of us drive cars, the warning is mainly addressed to us. You want to drink? Leave your car at home. Be carless, at least for sometime.

However, that is not the writer of the warning above had in mind. He meant that people can be quite ‘careless’ (not ‘carless’) during the festive season. Yes, it may be better to be ‘carless’ than to be ‘careless’.

Once again, festive season or not, do not drink and drive. As Christmas approached, there was unanimity among various commentators that the public in Tanzania was facing a cash crunch.

This included both buyers and sellers of goods: “Christians celebrate Xmas amid cash woes”, went the front page headline in the Good Citizen on Christmas day itself. There was a similar outcry from Kenya as can be gauged from this front page headline of the Sunday Nation (25 December): “Broke Christmas for Teachers and County Workers”.

The workers had not received their December salaries, come Christmas. As Jim Reeves was singing of a White Christmas, these public employees in Kenya were complaining of a moneyless Christmas. So, this year’s Christmas and New Year season must have been grim for many East Africans.

The Good Citizen on Christmas writer sampled public feelings from Dar es Salaam and Arusha and the finding was: “Merry making and heavy partying that usually accompany Christmas and New Year festivities will likely be overshadowed by the cash crunch and the impending January school bills for most parents” (p. 2).

However, there was determination from some people to enjoy themselves. A Dar es Salaam resident, one ZW, was quoted as saying: “It is true that this year we have faced challenging times as far as getting money is concerned, but that should not ‘dumpen our spirit’ on this day… … “.

“Dumpen our spirit?” No. According to my Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, there is no verb “to dumpen”. The writer may have mixed up homophones “damp” and “dump”. From “damp” we get the verb “dampen”. We do not have a similar development with regard to the word “dump”.

“To dampen” means “to make slightly wet”; and also, “to make less strong or intense” as in “nothing could dampen their enthusiasm”. The writer should therefore have used the verb; “to dampen”. “To dumpen” does not exist.

The Dar es Salaam resident who was interviewed should have been reported to have said as follows: “It is true that this year we have faced challenging times as far as getting money is concerned but that should not ‘dampen our spirits’ on this day… … “.

Please note as well that we are saying: “to dampen our spirits”, not “to dampen our spirit”. The festive season is now behind us. We have no choice but to pick ourselves up and forge ahead.