The government will not revoke the mining licence
for TanzaniteOne Mining Limited and instead will seek a strategic partner to
buy 50 shares of the company.
The Minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof Sospeter Muhongo,
told mineral dealers here at the weekend that there was “no justification” to
kick out the company and subdivide its mining block to local miners.
Prof Muhongo wondered why persistent calls to revoke
TanzaniteOne mining licence were made by the mineral dealers some of whom he
accused of not paying tax despite owning properties worth billions of shillings
including, five-star hotels.
He said the government had already downgraded the special
mining licence which the company enjoyed since it started operations at
Mererani hills a decade ago to a normal mining licence for gemstones in
compliance with the new mining law.
Prof Muhongo also denied that President Jakaya Kikwete had
promised to subdivide Block C, which is mined by TanzaniteOne, among the
locals. The promises were allegedly made during the past election campaigns.
“There is no documentary evidence at Manyara regional
commissioner’s office to support the claim that the President has promised to
remove TanzaniteOne in favour of the local miners. There is nothing like that,”
he said.
He added that the government would not risk chasing the
company from Block C merely because it is owned by outsiders. “By so doing we
risk being taken to court and end up paying hefty sums of money for
compensation,” Prof Muhongo said.
However, the minister emphasised that the government’s
position on the TanzaniteOne does not compromise its support for the small
scale miners whom, he said, occupy 90 per cent of all mining areas in the
country.
He said the government has a special programme for
supporting small-scale tanzanite miners with finance and equipment but
regretted that many of them neither declared their mineral yields nor paid tax.
On Saturday, the minister told The Citizen that the
government is currently sorting out legal technicalities to get a partner who
will take the 50 shares of TanzaniteOne and that the exercise would be
completed in two to three weeks.
Later in the day when addressing a public rally organized by
the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium, Prof
Muhongo warned local miners against taking law in their own hands.
Yesterday, TanzaniteOne Corporate Governance Manager
Lusekelo Mwakalukwa said they were waiting for the government’s directive to
get a shareholder but declined to reveal the stage the negotiations had
reached.
He was, however, categorical that TanzaniteOne has invested
millions of dollars in equipment, personnel and capital injection and that they
expected the other partner or partners to do the same.
“We agree with what the minister has said because it is
within the laws of the country. Negotiations will also touch on the
shareholding structure,” Mr Mwakalukwa told The Citizen, insisting that the
firm had been compliant with the
relevant laws, including paying tax.
The Mining Act 2010 law requires that gemstone mining will
be carried out exclusively by Tanzanians except where it requires heavy
investments and sophisticated technology, among others.
During the meeting at an
Arusha hotel, tanzanite miners reiterated their call to the government to
revoke mining licence for TanzaniteOne and subdivide the block to the local
miners. The government has spurned similar calls in the past.
Source: The Citizen, www.thecitizen.co.tz, reported by Zephania Ubwani in Arusha
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