Umeme sasa ni Machi 9 - ZECO

IMEDAIWA jana kuwa huduma ya umeme visiwani Zanzibar inatarajiwa kurudi Machi 9 baada ya kukamilika kazi za utengenezaji wa kituo cha kupokea umeme kilichopo Fumba, Mkoa wa Mjini Magharibi

Kaimu Meneja wa Shirika la Umeme Zanzibar (ZECO), Hassan Ali Mbarouk, aliwaambia waandishi wa habari kuwa kutokana na kukamilika kwa matengenezo cha Fumba huduma hiyo itarejea punde na kuwaahidi wananchi wasiwe na wasiwasi huduma hiyo itarejea siku hiyo.

Alisema kazi iliyobakia ni kuunganisha waya za umeme kutoka nchi kavu na baharini na kazi hiyo ya kuunganishwa kwa waya kutoka katika vituo vya Fumba hadi Ras Kiromoni Tanzania Bara itachukua muda wa siku tatu.

Alisema hadi Jumapili ijayo kazi ya matengenezo itakuwa imemalizika na matarajio Machi 8 kutafanyika vipimo vya majaribio na Machi 9 ndiyo huduma hiyo inatarajiwa kuwashwa na kurudi rasmi kwa umeme visiwani humo.

Pia aliweza kuwaambia waandishi wa habari kuwa kuchelewa kwa huduma hiyo kumesababishwa na mafuta yaliyokuwemo ndani ya waya zinazoleta umeme kutokuwa safi na kulazimika kusafishwa kwa muda wa siku tatu.

Wakazi wa visiwani humo wamekosa huduma hiyo ya umeme tangu Desemba mwaka jana, baada ya kutokea hitilafu katika kituo cha kupokea umeme huo kutoka Ras Kiromoni hadi Fumba mjini Unguja.

Minister: Tourism Accounts for 80% of Zanzibar Revenue

Tourism in Zanzibar is a Sh163 billion industry and employs 10,500 people.

It is an indirect source of income for another 40,000 Zanzibaris, the minister of State in the President's Office (Finance and Economy), Dr Mwinyihaji Makame Mwadini, said.

He told The Citizen that the sector accounted for 80 per cent of government revenue. He attributed its increasing contribution to the national development to reforms adopted in the mid-1980s.

"The sector contributes about 22 per cent of GDP and about 80 per cent in government revenue. The overall growth of the sector, estimated at 9-10 per cent, has outpaced that of agriculture. But like most sectors of the economy, tourism has recently been affected by the global crisis," he said.

He believes that more jobs would have been created and household incomes boosted had it not been for the negative impact of the global recession in 2008. Zanzibar had a gross domestic product (GDP) of Sh738.7 billion in 2008.

The global recession cut the GDP growth rate to 5.4 per cent in the year from 6.3 per cent in 2007. The crisis also raised the cost of living to 20.6 per cent from 13.1 per cent during the same period as food became scarce and prices escalated.

The downturn also affected government revenues, capital inflows and export earnings but donors did not cut aid, which accounts for over 40 per cent of the government budget. However, he is optimistic that the industry will improve this year following signs of recovery in the second half of last year.

Members of the Zanzibar Association of Tourism Investors (Zati) are cautious that the rebound is not guaranteed. The Zanzibar Commission of Tourism (ZTC) reported that the number of tourists fell to 128,440 visitors in 2008 from 148, 283 the previous year.


However, a Zati report showed that the number of tourists increased to 97,711 in the first nine months of 2009 from 94,430 in the similar period the previous year.

"The global financial crisis made 2009 a bit difficult for Zanzibar's tourism and prospects for this year are clouded by the power problem," Zati chairman Simai Mohamed told The Citizen on the sidelines of the association's 2010 dinner party.

Bwawani Hoteli kuuzwa kwa deni la mchele?

The Zanzibar High Court has blocked the decision to auction Bwawani Hotel after the Isles government presented a petition to settle its debt worth 1.6 trillion outside the court.

Speaking to this paper on Friday, the High Court Registrar Yesaya Kayange said the hotel’s auction was scheduled to take place on January 26 this year, but the High Court halted the decision after the respondent, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs pleaded to settle the matter out of court.

“We received a request from the respondents asking us to halt the auction because they were ready to settle the matter out of court,” said the registrar.

However, Kayange said should the parties fail to reach an understanding, the matter would revert to court.

He noted that for now the court would not interfere because it had awarded both the parties time to settle the matter.

The court had authorized the auction of the hotel following the Zanzibar Ministry of Finance and Economics’ failure to pay a debt of 1.6trn/- to Leamthore Rice Company Ltd which had been awarded tender to supply rice to the government.

The order was issued on November 12 last year by the same registrar to execute a judgment that was delivered by high Court Judge Wolfgang Dourado on May 16, 1997.

Earlier, the company had filed a civil case no. 47/1997 following the governments failure to pay a debt of USD 69.4m after receiving rice from the same company and selling it in the local markets.

The company was being represented by advocate Dr Masumbuko Lamwai who had asked the court to order confiscation of government properties including a farm in Kijichi area.

Judge Dourado reached the decision following failure by the ministry’s permanent secretary Omar Sheha to appear in court.

The court then ordered the ministry to pay the debt in full including an interest of 25 per cent and the costs of the case.

However the ministry failed to pay the debt on time which accumulated to 1.6trn/-.

Bwawani Hotel was built by the first phase President, the late Abeid Amani Karume, and reports show that high profile businessmen from the Isles and Tanzania Mainland had shown interest in buying the hotel.

Drug Free Zanzibar

Hivi karibu katika Hoteli ya Africa House kulifanyika onyesho la fund raising kwa ajili ya kuzuia utumiaji wa madawa ya kulevya kisiwani Zanzibar.

Hatua yoyote inayochukuliwa ili kuondoa matumizi ya madawa ya kulevya visiwani humo, inapaswa kuungwa mkono. Kwani athari za matumizi hayo sasa zimekuwa kubwa mno kiasi cha hata watoto wadogo kuanza kuathirika, kama ilivyoondika hapa.