RC orders miners out of Mwanza site

By Paulina David, Mwanza

Small-scale miners will be evicted from the Mwanangwa diamond mine to pave the way for a large-scale investor, the Mwanza regional commissioner, Mr Abbas Kandoro has said.

He told the Mwanza Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) meeting here that a fresh arrangement was being made for them to secure an alternative mine in which to operate.

They were evicted a fortnight ago as a precaution
against the swine flu outbreak in the area. They, however refused to vacate the mine unless the large-scale investor
and his workers were also evicted.

The small-scale miners has also accused police officers assigned to guard the mine of returning to the site and stealthly of extracting diamond at night.

"The small-scale miners should be forbidden from working at the mine until the area of the large-scale miner is demarcated," Mr Kandoro explained during the meeting.

He promised that the small-scale miners would be provided with the remaining area. The miners wounded a village executive officer (VEO) while he was enforcing the regional
commissioner's order last Wednesday.

The (VEO) accompanied the Misungwi district commissioner,
Ms Mariam Lugaila, and police officers from the district.
Reports from the village, which were confirmed by the acting
Mwanza regional police commander, Mr Elias Kalinga, said miners hurled stones at the Veo, DC and law enforcers as they protested against the eviction.

Mr Kandoro directed the miners to disperse from the mine to avoid swine flu infection, as over 140 Ilula Primary School pupils and villagers had by then tested positive to the contagious disease.

Church plans agriculture varsity
Beatus Kagashe
The Roman Catholic Church in the country is planning to establish an agriculture university in Ruvuma Region in collaboration with the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI). Cardinal Polycarp Pengo said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the church was in the process of acquiring 3,000 hectares of land on which the university would be built.
Speaking at the inauguration of a new building at St Joseph College of Engineering and Technology, Cardinal Pengo said the move aimed to complement government efforts to modernise agriculture. Cardinal Pengo was the guest of honour at the inauguration of the four -storey building named after him, which would serve as a hostel for students at the college.
The Sh800 million building can accommodate 1,300 students. St Joseph Group of Institutes official Thomas Ananth said experts from India were expected in the country next January to survey the project site ahead of the institute?s construction.
"We expect the construction to have started by March, next year, and the registration of the first intake of students in August,"said Mr Ananth, adding that Ruvuma had been picked because its weather was conducive to agriculture.
The college will have five departments, namely horticulture, crop science, animal science, integrated farming systems and aquaculture, "which will expose thousands of Tanzanians to the best farming practices".
"The college will provide students with the best agricultural techniques, and this will help in implementing the 'Kilimo Kwanza' initiative by producing many experts," Mr Ananth said. Cardinal Pengo said the establishment of the university would go a long way in addressing challenges in the agricultural sector.
The aim was to make agriculture lucrative and encourage people to move from urban to rural areas. The Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) is currently the only institute in Tanzania offering first degree, master?s and PhD courses in agriculture, forestry and nature conservation, science and veterinary medicine. Tengeru, Liti, Uyole, Morogoro and Ukiruguru are among institutes offering diplomas in agriculture-related fields.
They also serve as agricultural research institutes. Cardinal Pengo criticised the approach in the 'Kilimo Kwanza' initiative, saying it would not bring about the desired success quickly. He said there was a need to focus on farmers themselves instead of concentrating on farming.
Cardinal Pengo said the initiative should have been called 'Wakulima Kwanza' (Farmers First), and geared at providing farmers with appropriate knowledge and equipment to enable them to transform their lives. He warned that 'Kilimo Kwanza' would attract many foreign investors to the country, and sideline the locals.
"It should have been called 'Wakulima Kwanza' because it would put more emphasis on educating farmers than emphasising on farming itself," he said. Cardinal Pengo said the government should have started with 'Wakulima Kwanza' and 'Kilimo Kwanza' would have followed automatically because people would have been empowered to modernise agriculture. "How can we say 'Kilimo Kwanza' when farmers don't have proper education on farming? The initiative will not work because it has not paid much attention to educating the farmers on how to change their way of farming."