Pinda: No clues when will power cut end

BAK · 2011-04-17T16:09:26+00:00

Pinda: No clues when will power cut end By Florian Kaijage 17th April 2011 Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda As the country approaches the fifth month since the commencement of countrywide power rationing, the blues are not expected to end in the foreseeable days, Government confirmed here yesterday. The confirmation was made in the Parliament by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda in his speech to adjourn the third Parliamentary meeting. Pinda told the House that given the unlikelihood of sufficient rains during the current winter season to feed the power generation dams, power rationing would continue. He said: "The recent weather forecast report by Tanzania Meteorology Agency (TMA) revealed that the current long rains are below average though it was raining in many areas of the country." The premier explained that water flowing into the power generation dams, especially the bigger and dependable one at Mtera in Iringa Region, remained very little compared to the requirements. He pointed out that that by April 13 ,2011, the water level in Mtera dam was at 691.16, 116 centimeters above the required minimum level for power generation. The said level is just 25 centimeters above the 690.90 level recorded on March 24, 2011. PM Pinda told the House further that during the current water shortage, only one power generating machine was being run at highest power requirements from 8 – 11am and at 7 – 10 pm. "The power cut hours have decreased but we are still experiencing a shortage of 60MW in the nation grid compared to the long hours rationing in February 2011 which was due to a shortage of 264MW," he said. As a short-term strategy to ease the crisis, Pinda said Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) was proceeding with their plan of emergency power generation under which a public tender was advertised on March 18 and the submitted documents were scheduled to be opened on April 30. Under the plan, Tanesco would hire generators with a view of generating 260MW. By February 2011, the national maximum demand of power was 833MW compared to 729MW in year 2008. On the education sector, the Prime Minister said the government was striving to bridge the gap of 74,286 teachers in primary and secondary schools He said that the number of teachers who were expected to graduate during the 2010/2011 financial year was 30,000, among whom 11,649 would be university degree holders, 7,382 diploma holders and grade IIIA certificate holders were projected to be 10,969. Pinda said the government would continue prioritizing the recruitment of teachers so as to ease the shortage. He added that the Treasury had made sure the funds for newly employed teachers were sent directly to the Councils and Teachers Colleges to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy, adding that by March 31, 2011, a total of 15.3bn/- was paid to the relevant Councils and Teachers Colleges for 9,039 teachers. The PM also touched on chronic diseases, advising all people who have sought treatment from traditional healers to continue making medical check-ups in hospitals to confirm whether they had recovered or not. He issued the advise against the backdrop of the emergence of healers who claim to dispense divine-inspired medication. He cited the Loliondo-based Ambilikile Masapila (Babu), and others in Rombo, Mbeya, Tabora, Rukwa, Morogoro Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, who he did not name. Pinda said although the healers claim that their medical service is inspired by instructions communicated to them by God through dreams, the law governing traditional medicine requires them to register their business. He said based on that fact the government would continue collecting samples so as to ensure that the medicine being dispensed was laboratory tested and certified as safe for human consumption. Since Masapila announced that his herbal concoction cured HIV/Aids, diabetes, cancer and hypertension, and several patients testified that they had been cured or experienced relief, thousands of people have been streaming to his remote Samunge village some 400 kilometres from Arusha for a cupful of the concoction over the past few months. And lately, other alleged God-propelled healers have surfaced and have been attracting patients, albeit in far smaller numbers. On the Constitution review Bill 2011, Pinda said the government had concurred with the Parliament Speaker to withdraw the Bill from the House after first mention so that people could be accorded more time to give alternative views. He said the government agreed to have the English document translated into Kiswahili language to enable as many people as possible to grasp its contents. Pinda said that the text would be published in local newspapers so as to have a bigger out reach. The Parliament bowed to intensified public pressure to withdraw the Bill from the House last Friday as almost the entire document was faulted during public hearings in Dodoma, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, where the situation became tense following the public tearing up and burning of its copy. The house was adjourned to June 7, 2011 when it would reconvene for the marathon budget session. SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

Thread starter BAK
Start date Apr 17, 2011

BAK

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Pinda: No clues when will power cut end

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