Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has tasked Regional Commissioners countrywide to oversee ongoing development projects and crop production by considering geographical condition of their respective areas.
Mr Majaliwa issued the directive yesterday during a virtual conference with Regional Commissioners and the Defence and Security Committees.
“Around 75 per cent of the people in your respective regions engage in agriculture, as the custodians of these areas you should make supervision of the sector for increased productivity,” said the Premier, who chaired the meeting from his office at Mlimwa in Dodoma City.
The PM cited the need for the RCs to look into cost effective irrigation farming, especially in regions endowed with natural water sources like rivers, instead of relying on unrealiable seasonal rains.
He urged the regional administrators to involve district extension officers while initiating irrigation projects, so as ensure that all projects are operational. Based on key strategic crops, the PM said the government will continue to manage production of the crops which include sunflower and avocado, noting that it was embarking on strengthening crops like sesame, cocoa and lima beans. Thus, he urged the RCs to supervise production of the crops despite the price challenge.
“The country must engage in crop production even during challenging times. Once the production season begins, we should all engage in production,” the Premier stated.
Mr Majaliwa noted that the production of sunflower is relatively associated with the industrial sector, inquiring the reasons for shutting down factories due to lack of raw materials.
“In Singida, the sunflower processing factories have reduced production, a similar case is occurring in Bunda, Morogoro and Shinyaga despite the availability of a favorable weather condition,” he emphasized.
Equally, the PM urged them to educate people on the importance and how they can benefit from the cooperatives. He, further, ordered them to supervise the cooperative system of selling crops, pointing out that the system is critical. Mr Majaliwa outlined other areas which need attention of the leaders as road construction works, rural energy electrification, education, water, health and security and defence.
“The road projects involve those supervised by TANROADS and TARURA, how many are they, whether they have been completed or not and the reasons for delaying. It is your responsibility to ensure they are finalised,” he said.
With regard to the energy sector, Mr Majaliwa said the plan is to electrify the remaining 1900 villages and move to the hamlet level.He, however, reminded the RCs to supervise the contractors in their regions to be clear on the status of the project, pointing out that the goal is to electrify the whole country by 2025.
As for the education sector, the RCs were tasked to oversee the funds disbursed by Regional Authorities and Local Government and the Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) to meet the timely targets.
On the other hand, the Premier urged the regional leaders to follow up on the construction of health facilities in the districts and councils while taking into account the value for money.
Among other areas include the supervision of the water sectors and defence and security issues while making sure the water projects are reliable. Meanwhile, the Minister of State in the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), Ms Ummy Mwalimu, has directed the RCs to prepare themselves with construction of classrooms as part of preparation for receiving Form I students, next year.
