MPs push for speedy projects implementation

DODOMA: MEMBERS of Parliament have called for fast-tracking the implementation of the Mchuchuma Coal and Liganga Iron Ore projects considering its valuable deposits of minerals that are in high demand globally.

The lawmakers made the plea in the National Assembly when contributing to the debate on the110.9bn/- budget estimates for the Ministry of Industry and Trade for the year 2024/25.

Musoma Rural MP, Prof Sospeter Muhongo (CCM) advised the government to speed up implementation of the projects since the areas are rich in minerals more than iron and coal.

“For Liganga, it is called polymetallic, having more than one mineral, it has iron, titanium, vanadium and others,” Prof Muhongo told the august house.

“When you speak of Liganga, don’t only speak of iron alone, nowadays the titanium and vanadium are more important than the iron,” Prof Muhongo stressed.

“In order for Tanzania to achieve we must have experts, currently coal experts are very few, not more than three.

The government should tell the investors to speed up the investment,” he added as he also appealed to fellow MPs to give the green light to the ministry’s budget since the country gears up to build industries.

Shedding light on the background of the projects, he said the projects date back during the era of German colonialists.

The important work done from 1928 to 1948 was the mapping which was done by the Geological Survey Department of the British government, upon which their reports were stored in the archives of the UK geological survey department.

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In 1952, a Canadian company did an airborne survey magnetic survey and from 1956 to 1957, major Austrian companies came in.

Then in 2011, the National Development Corporation (NDC) came in by signing a contract with a Chinese company.

During this year, the NDC inked a $3 billion deal with China’s Sichuan Hongda Co. Ltd to mine coal and generate power in Mchuchuma.

The Liganga mineral deposit stands at 129 million tonnes while Mchuchuma has a deposit of 422 million tonnes of coal.

The biggest deposit of coal is in Australia with 51 billion tonnes deposit, followed by Brazil with 34 billion tonnes and China deposits of 20 billion tonnes.

Last year, the global demand for iron was 1.6 billion tonnes, and its market was 350 billion US dollars.

“When we speak with our Chinese partners in the projects, let us also speak of titanium, which is in high demand in the world, it is produced by only two countries, which are Australia and South Africa.

In the partnership, the NDC has 20 per cent, while the Chinese company has 80 per cent. In the joint venture with the Chinese company, it is expected that 2.9 million tonnes of iron will be produced and 3 million tonnes of coal will be mined annually.

The coal deposit will serve the country for more than 100 years. On the other hand, he said Mara Region had industries from the 1960’s to 1990’s, but currently there is no single industry.

“My first request is that if we are in an industrial revolution, Mara Region is the place to establish industries. The residents are great farmers of cotton, we need ginneries, textile industries.

We are also great fishers. We need at least three fish processing industries. We are also great livestock keepers, we need meat processing industries,” he asked.

On his part, Mr Sebastian Kapufi (Mpanda Rural-CCM) asked the government not to delay exploiting the country’s natural resources like those in Liganga and Mchuchuma.

“The technology is changing fast globally, when we delay using our natural resources, it will reach a time when they will be outdated and useless because of technological changes,” Mr Kapufi argued.

Contributing, Mr Josephat Gwajima said a big component of railway is iron, wondering why the country imports iron to implement Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project while such materials could be sourced from Mchuchuma project.

“We have a big deposit of iron, let the ministry work speedily on the project, I thank the President for endorsing funds for compensating people to pave the way for project implementation. Let us implement this project so as to save our forex,” he said.

Another MP, Mr Japhet Hasunga (Vwawa-CCM) also commended President Samia for reviving the Mchuchuma and Liganga Coal project whose implementation stopped for many years.

“I commend the President for endorsing funds for the project to move forward because the minerals from the project will contribute to the national economy,” Mr Hasunga stated.

He said that in order to create many employment opportunities for Tanzanian youth, industries and trade are crucial.

He advised the government to introduce the Industries Fund to facilitate industrial growth by financially empowering the small industries instead of depending on securing loans from banks.