DODOMA: DEPUTY Minister for Transport, David Kihenzile, has directed institutions that benefit from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) weather data to pay fees timely to support the authority’s finances and enhance its capacity to produce more data.
He issued these directives in the National Assembly yesterday while responding to a supplementary question by the Member of Parliament for Kilombero, Abubakar Asenga, who sought to know the government’s stance on delayed payments to TMA when they receive weather information.
In her main question, Special Seats MP Mariam Kisangi wanted to know the government’s plan for using TMA data to reduce deaths caused by climate change.
In response, Mr Kihenzile said that the government, through TMA, has continued to enhance the infrastructure for collecting, processing, and packaging weather data in the country.
“TMA has continued to disseminate this weather information to the public through various media outlets and social media platforms,” he said.
MP Kisangi, in a follow-up question, wanted to know the plans of the relevant authority to act on the weather information.
Responding, the Deputy Minister said that TMA is responsible for observing, collecting, processing, storing, and disseminating weather information. The second responsibility is how this information reaches the public and various authorities.
“The TMA Act of 2006 empowers TMA to perform these tasks, and there is also the Disaster Management Act of 2022, which provides an opportunity for various disaster committees nationwide to ensure that information from
TMA is disseminated and reaches various areas once received,” he said.
Mr Kihenzile said that the government, in collaboration with various authorities, has continued to educate the public through the media and build the capacity of officials to ensure that the information is accurate and reaches our officials.
