MINISTER of State in the VicePresident’s Office (Union and Environment) Mussa Zungu said on Tuesday that Dar es Salaam residents are expected to spend 600/- only on gas to cook a meal for five persons in a planned scheme to make urban dwellers switch from use of charcoal to gas.
He was briefing journalists after holding talks with the Managing Director of the Circle Gas, Mr Volker Schultz, at his Office in Dar es Salaam.
Circle Gas plans to invest in cooking gas business in East African cities and towns, starting with Dar see Salaam and Nairobi.
“Absolutely, gas is far cheaper than charcoal,” the minister told reporters adding, “a family in Dar es Salaam will spend 600/- only on gas and cook a meal for five people.”
Mr Zungu welcome the scheme advanced by the company but said education and public awareness campaign would be necessary to make many people switch from charcoal to gas.
“As a country we encourage the use of alternative energy as the only solution to protection of forests and environment. We have taken several steps together with environment stakeholders,” the minister said.
He said the use of charcoal increased enormously because of fast increasing population.
“Tree felling has increased sharply. Latest studies show that over two million tonnes of charcoal are used annually as source of cooking energy. This has a very negative effect on environment,” he said.
Mr Zungu explained that the scheme had not started, but said once talks were concluded phase one implementation of the project would start in Dar es Salaam, benefiting 10,000 residents.
“We shall be happy if this scheme will take off because over 90 of the Dar es Salaam residents depend on charcoal,” he said.
According to the minister, a resident would not be required to pay for the stove and metre in the first 18 months. The residents would only pay for gas depending on their consumption, he said.
Mr Schultz said their company’s long-term plan was to make many urban people use gas for the good of environment.
But, he continued, their current focus was cities like Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, where many people use charcoal instead of gas.
