AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE government has announced it will soon resume auctions of Tanzanite after the construction of a one-stop mineral trading centre in Mirerani.
Minister for Minerals Doto Biteko said the government had stopped such auctions after noticing some foul play from dishonest officials and traders.
“Two people would sit in their private room and arrange everything including the price… this was wrong,” the minister said. “We had to call off the auctions until we are certain with the administration.”
The new one-stop centre, according to the minister, could have resumed operations before the ongoing budget session in Parliament, but due to unforeseen circumstances it will open anytime from now.
The one-stop centre was a recommendation from a parliamentary select committee on minerals that was chaired by the current minister. It recommended that the construction of the centre could increase transparency and revenue collection of the rare and precious mineral.
Mr Adadi Rajabu (Mheza-CCM), who was one of the select committee members, questioned the minister during his budget estimates and expenditures for 2020/21 debates, the amount that the centre had generated if it were really operating.
Other recommendations were the construction of a wall and the installation of security cameras, which have both been completed.
The minister said there were serious irregularities in Tanzanite auctioning. He went on to note that all needed infrastructure had been fixed to accommodate Tanzanite auctions.
In another development, the minister announced that the government had removed barriers from the trading of minerals at established mineral centres, thus allowing traders to buy and sell such minerals anywhere across the country.
Initially, the government had restricted mineral traders not to trade minerals beyond their regional borders, but with the new statement a trader in Geita can now sell or buy diamond minerals in Dodoma.
Existing trading centres include those in the mineral-rich areas of Mwanza, Geita, Chunya, Arusha, Namanga, Singida, Sekenke, Dar es Salaam, Kahama, Shinyanga, Ruvuma, Katavi, Tanga, Iringa, Manyara, Singida, Shinyanga, Dodoma, Kigoma, Tabora, Mbeya, Mara and Songwe regions.
