Zanzibar government has said that it does not recognize oil and natural gas exploration and extraction contracts signed by Union government through the Tanzania Petroleum Development Cooperation (TPDC). Water, Construction, Energy and Land deputy minister Tafana Kassim Mzee told the House of Representatives here that following the Zanzibar decision to remove the issue of oil and natural gas from the list of Union matters all the contracts have automatically been nullified.
Mzee sounded the stance over the weekend when responding to various questions from the members of the House when he was winding up the budget debate of his ministry. He said all companies which entered into contract with the Union government through TPDF will be required to reapply to the Zanzibar government.
The companies which have signed agreements to explore oil and natural gas in Zanzibar include Antrium Resource Ltd from Canada and Shell International of Britain. Mzee said that the companies were supposed to explore and extract oil and natural gas in blocks number 9 and 12.
“All the oil and natural gas exploration and extraction contracts have been nullified following the House of Representatives’ decision to remove the matter from the list of Union matters,” the deputy minister said. He further said that the companies should be patient until the government forms an institution to supervise the issue of oil and natural gas exploration and extraction in the Isles.
He said currently the Zanzibar government was preparing an energy policy which will be tabled in the October House before formulating the law to govern the issue of oil and gas. The Zanzibar House of Representative members have backed the move to remove oil and natural gas from the list of Union matters, but in his clarification on Friday last week, National Assembly Speaker Samuel Sitta said “it’s virtually impossible” to change the country’s constitution without approval of the Union House.
Isles’ Water, Construction, Energy and Land Minister Mansour Yusuf Himid announced the stand on oil and natural gas last week when tabling the 2009/10 budget for his ministry, saying the decision was done for the benefit of the people of Zanzibar.
Energy and Minerals deputy minister Adam Malima for his part, said: “The announcement by the Zanzibar minister was his own private decision and if there is a need to change anything, it must follow proper constitutional procedures.”
Himid told the isles’ House last Wednesday that the decision would be communicated at the next round of the bipartisan talks on the Union set-up.
The minister had told the House that the decision was reached at a meeting on June 9, this year after the members of the House expressed dissatisfaction over the report by a foreign consultant.
This was a British firm commissioned to study the matter and advise the Isles’ government accordingly, which was done earlier this year.
When reached for comment on the isles’ government move, the deputy minister for Energy and Minerals Adam Malima said that he’s not informed about the matter.
“I’m not aware of the matter…you can get the answers from Zanzibar ministers because they know what is going on and therefore are in a better position to explain,” he said over the phone.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN (Tanzania)
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