AfricaPress-Tanzania: PANGANI District Council revenue from marine products has jumped to 256.8m/-in 2017/18 from 23.8m/- in 2014/15 after the council entered an agreement with Beach Management Unit (BMU) groups.
The BMUs in Pangani District were formed in 2009 through Marine and Coastal Environment Management Project (Macemp) aimed at managing marine environment, control illegal fishing and is working under a specific village authority.
BMUs are implemented in line with the Fishing Policy and Fishing Act No 22 of 2003 and national guidelines of BMU of 2005.
Pangani District Executive Director Issaya Mbenje revealed this in his office in his welcoming speech to a delegation of Bagamoyo Beach Management Units led by Bagamoyo Vice-Chairman Chandika Dismass and Economic, Construction and Environmental Committee Chairman Sinasud Rashid during a one-day study tour sponsored by The South Nest Indian Ocean Fisheries Governance and Shared Growth (SWIOFish) Project on the Mainland, funded by World Bank (WB).
Besides Tanzania, the project is also implemented in Comoro and Mozambique.
He said the first time the Pangani Council meeting agreed to give tender BMUs to collect marine resources and products revenue and other levies was in 2014/15 they collected 23.8m/- and in 2017/18 it increased to 256.8m/-
Later in 2018/19 the councillors, council decided the work to be carried out by village executive officers, collection dropped to 137.35m/- in 2019/20.
He said after recognising the shortfall of revenue collection they decided to revive the BMUs located at Mkwaja, Kipumbwi, Pangani West and Pangani East in 12 villages along the Indian Ocean coastline and trained them on revenue collection through POS machines, and entered a new agreement of one year renewable contract by giving them 10 per cent commission of their collection from July 2020 to January this year where the collection was 93m/-.
“Earlier the revenue of marine products collected by BMUs was good, later we decided to give the work to our village executive officers and it dropped. After the revenue dropped we realised that there were shortcomings in the contract between BMUs and the district council. We revived them, we were able to collect 93m/-,”he said.
