Minister for Energy and Minerals Sospeter Muhongo
In Summary
The licence holders have a month to show why they
should not surrender the permits, minister for Energy and Minerals
Sospeter Muhongo confirmed yesterday.
Dar es Salaam. The government has put 102
companies on notice that it will withdraw their dormant mining licences,
which were awarded between 2006 and 2012.
The licence holders have a month to show why they
should not surrender the permits, minister for Energy and Minerals
Sospeter Muhongo confirmed yesterday.
“They have up to October 9 to operationalise the
dormant licences or the government will repossess and give them out to
companies capable of rolling out the mining activities for which they
were issued,” he told The Citizen on Saturday.
Sections 36 and 52 of the mining code provide for
prospecting work to begin within three months of receiving mining
rights. The firms must also stick to mining operations.
Permanent Secretary Eliakim Maswi issued the
notice on Monday in a move seen as a clampdown on individuals who get
mining licences only to turn around and hawk them to international
prospecting firms for profit running into hundreds of millions of
shillings.
Many of the speculators are influential
politicians, businessmen and well-heeled individuals out to profiteer
from the country’s huge mineral deposits. There has been widespread
criticism of the manner in which the licences are given out, with claims
of corruption.
Yesterday, Mr Muhongo said 98 per cent of the 102
licences are owned by Tanzanians who cannot develop them. Mr Maswi put
the figure in Dar es Salaam at 94 and one in Boston in the US. The rest
are spread in other areas of the country.
The government is concerned about the loss of revenue through hoarding of the licences, according to the minister.
At Mererani, for example, locals own 597 licences
but only 10 pay taxes. Some of them sell to foreigners. Mr Muhongo
reiterated that those who fail to implement the government’s order will
have their mining blocks revoked.
In recent days, the minister and influential
businessman Reginald Mengi have gone head to head over the ministry’s
stance on gas, fuel and mining block licences.
Mr Mengi has pushed for a delay in issuing gas
exploration licences, arguing that new policies should first be aligned
with local participation and ownership in the lucrative industry.
But the minister has advanced the view that
licences should be granted to those with the capital and technical
know-how to develop the sector within the set deadlines and in keeping
with national growth objectives.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
