MBEYA: SPEAKER of the National Assembly and Mbeya Urban Member of Parliament, Dr Tulia Ackson, has emphasized the importance of continued support for President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan’s clean cooking energy initiative.
She urged citizens to adopt clean energy, which is safer for both health and the environment.
Dr Tulia made the remarks on Sunday in Mbeya during a vote of thanks to various stakeholders who helped make the Oryx gas cooking competition a success.
The competition involved 1,000 food vendors, including both men and women, from all wards in Mbeya Urban constituency.
“We organized this cooking competition for food vendors to support President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is recognized across Africa and now globally as a leader in clean cooking energy.
“By engaging in initiatives like this, where we educate each other on the importance of using clean energy and abandoning unsafe alternatives,” she said.
She also expressed gratitude to Oryx for their ongoing support of various community-related events, particularly for facilitating the distribution of gas stoves and cylinders to food vendors.
Deputy Minister for Energy, Ms Judith Kapinga, who was the guest of honour at the closing ceremony of the training sessions that ran from August 27 to 31, highlighted the government’s ongoing efforts to promote clean cooking energy among the public.
“One of the common requests from citizens is for the price of gas to be reduced, as it is currently high. We suggest that gas sector stakeholders create a system that allows people to purchase gas in smaller quantities rather than making a large, one-time payment,” she said.
The Deputy Minister noted that allowing citizens to buy gas in smaller amounts would likely increase its use, helping to protect the environment and improve public health.
She also dispelled the belief that food cooked using firewood and charcoal tastes better, stressing that meals prepared with alternative energy sources, such as gas, are just as delicious and more environmentally friendly.
For his part, Oryx Gas Tanzania Managing Director, Benoit Araman, said the primary goal of the cooking competition was to promote the use of clean energy to protect the environment, which has been significantly affected by the cutting of trees for firewood and charcoal.
“For over 15 years, access to cooking energy has been discussed and planned. But today, under the leadership of President Dr Samia, there is strong motivation to encourage citizens to use clean cooking energy.
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“Oryx Gas believes that cooking with gas helps protect the environment and reduces the time women spend in the forest gathering firewood or charcoal. It also protects them from wild animals and the risks of gender-based violence in the forest,” Araman said.
He added that, in addition to supporting various groups with access to Oryx gas cylinders, the company takes pride in having reached over 12,000 food vendors, providing them with education on the safe use of gas and supplying them with both small and large cylinders to help facilitate their cooking operations more efficiently and safely.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional chiefs of Mbeya Region, Chief Rocket Mwashinga urged government officials and gas sector stakeholders to consider reducing the price of gas to make it more affordable for the public, as the current cost remains high.
