As the frequency of brutal acid attacks increases in Tanzania, pundits
worry that the government is no where near putting an end to the
unregulated sale of corrosive inputs used to manufacture these caustic
potions. PHOTO | FILE
By Syriacus Buguzi, The Citizen on Sunday Reporter
(email the author)
Posted Sunday, September 15 2013 at 02:03
Posted Sunday, September 15 2013 at 02:03
In Summary
The executive body that oversees the monitoring
and registration of chemicals recently vowed to crack down on all
chemical dealers following the rise of unscrupulous use of corrosive
chemicals as ‘’weapons’’.
Dar es Salaam. The Government
Chemist Laboratory Agency (GCLA) is facing a human resources crisis that
raises fears of government difficulties in implementing its recent plan
to control acid sales.
The executive body that oversees the monitoring
and registration of chemicals recently vowed to crack down on all
chemical dealers following the rise of unscrupulous use of corrosive
chemicals as ‘’weapons’’.
However, the agency is too grossly understaffed to
carry out its work well. A source at the agency’s headquarters in Dar
es Salaam told The Citizen on Sunday that the GCLA was forced to carry out inspections on chemical dealers only twice a year instead of doing so regularly.
Unscrupulous chemical dealers capitalise on the situation to sell chemicals haphazardly.
GCLA head Samuel Manyele said the management would
have wished to carry out monthly inspections on chemical dealers but
the agency was “overwhelmed because it has an acute shortage of
manpower’’.
Prof Manyele said: “We are forced to operate with
only 120 professionals instead of the required 400. This is weakening
our efforts to serve the public.’’
When asked by this reporter how the GCLA will
address the challenge, he said: “We have decided to hire some experts to
work on short-term contracts but this also means the agency has to
incur more costs.”
The Chief Government Chemist further raised a
complaints against the Public Services Recruitment Secretariat (PSRS),
saying that the agency has been trying to secure more staff through it
in vain.
‘’The allocation of staff to GCLA did not consider
the demands and criteria of our agency. The recruitment secretariat
needs to reconsider such specialised government agencies in the
allocation process,’’ he added.
But according to PSRS general secretary Xavier
Daudi, challenges faced by specialised agencies like the GCLA, stem from
employment policies which give room for competition in the labour
market.
He said: ‘’It is the choice of a particular
applicant to seek an opportunity in a particular organisation depending
on his or her interest. This is also determined by working conditions
there.’’
The Citizen has established that worst
hit units by the shortage are those that require staff with specific
skills in the management of chemical processing and engineering at the
various GCLA zonal offices in the country.
The agency’s Eastern Zone acting manager Mr Daniel Ndiyo, told
this reporter that there were still many loopholes for illegal dealings
in chemicals in many parts of the country and the best way to curb such
crimes was through carrying out regular inspections.
The mushrooming of industrial chemical plants
coupled with the rise of acid attacks had raised concern over the past
few months, prompting the Chief Government Chemist to issue a
three-month ultimatum to all chemical dealers to register their
businesses.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
