Ministry plans further control on charcoal use

The minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment), Mr January Makamba, speaks in Dar es Salaam yesterday. With him is the Unep deputy executive director, Ms Joyce Msuya. PHOTO | ANTHONY SIAME

What you need to know:

  • The minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment, Mr January Makamba, speaks about the importance of using alternative energy

Dar es Salaam. The minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union and Environment), Mr January Makamba, says he is mulling over banning use of charcoal in all public institutions.

He was speaking yesterday during a discussion on opportunities of environmental protection. The discussion was also attended by Tanzanian Joyce Msuya, who has been appointed deputy director of the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).

Mr Makamba clarified that the charcoal ban would face those institutions serving over 200 people as the aim was to campaign for the protection of the environment by urging use of an alternative energy.

“We are still mulling over the ban so we can know the impact of this issue. We are cautious of the ban to avoid causing another problem,” he said, insisting that the environmental protection and development were related.

He explained that the problem facing innovators in environmental protection issues was the lack of capital and failure to access markets. However, he said the government was making efforts to meet donors.

According to him, another challenge facing the innovators manufacturing products made from garbage was distrust of them by banks when wanting to apply for loans. Ms Msuya pledged that Unep would work in cooperation with Tanzania by observing the latter’s priorities. In the envisaged cooperation, she said, they would bring together various foreign experts to bring new technologies of turning garbage into opportunities. “We are trying to convince big companies to finance these innovators so that they could grow and enhance efficiency in garbage management.”

Environmentalists say the massive production of charcoal (at its height employing hundreds of thousands, mainly in Alpine and neighbouring forests) was a major cause of deforestation, especially in Central Europe.