By Songa wa Songa

The Citizen Correspondent

Dar es Salaam. The government yesterday failed once again to decide whether or not to include natural gas and oil as matters of the Union.

The committee chaired by vice President Dr Mohammed Bilal whose members are ministers and permanent secretaries from both sides of the union, deliberated on the union challenges the whole day without a consensus on the matter.

The minister of State in the Vice President’s Office in charge of Union affairs Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, briefed journalist in the evening after a closed-door meeting that the issue was sent back to the two governments of the Union and Zanzibar.

“We have agreed to disagree on the issue as the Mainland is for inclusion while Zanzibar members maintained their exclusion stance,” she said.

However, the meeting recorded success on fishery activities in the deep sea, double taxation complaint for Zanzibar businessmen, allegedly overcharged power bills for Zanzibar, immigration issues and introduction of Constituency Development Funds for Zanzibar Members of Parliament and House of Representatives.

“In general assessment, we have achieved 75 per cent success in this meeting and I strongly believe that these outstanding issues will be resolved in the near future,” she said.