EDITORIAL: Minister’s directive on investment land apt

The call to reserve land for investment projects – as well as put in place the requisite infrastructure and related appurtenances that are supportive of such projects – needs to be taken up in all seriousness. The call was made to administrative district and regional commissioners by the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) who is tasked with investment matters, Ms Angellah Kairuki.

This was when the minister was winding up her five-day inspection tour of the Southern Highlands Regions of Iringa, Mbeya and Njombe to learn at first hand the Regions’ successes, failures and challenges in the socioeconomic development stakes.

The three regions in particular are richly endowed by Mother Nature with arable land, pasturelands and tourist attractions, all of whose great potentials are yet to be functionally tapped to a reasonable extent. The regions are part and parcel of the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (Sagcot), under which they are grouped together as the Ihemi Cluster that has huge potential for the production of food crops and livestock keeping.

Yet, the potentials have not been fully tapped. Hence the minister’s call on the local political governors to get their act together soonest and embark upon measures which are designed to attract and retain investors, both local and foreign.

One of the measures is to identify and reserve land that is clearly suitable for investment projects which are tangibly associated with all-inclusive, sustainable socioeconomic development.

Another is the putting in place of appropriate infrastructure that matches with development projects while, at the same time, assuring fair returns on investments. Such measures are within the jurisdiction of district and regional administrations and combined with other friendly investment-cum-business environments created by the central government they should see to increased investments in the regions. What now remains is for the Investments minister to take her message to the other regions across the country

BEWARE OF NEW SWINE FLU

 Reports from China show that researchers have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic. The disease has been named G4, and is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.Researchers say it possesses all the essential hallmarks of being highly adapted to infect humans.

The key symptoms, according to the experts, remain principally fever, coughing and sneezing. Further research findings show that any immunity humans gain from exposure to seasonal flu does not provide protection from G4.

Given human experience with viral attacks, the most fresh case, and which is still among us, being the coronavirus disease (Cov-id-19), governments must take comprehensive measures to ensure that this new disease does not spread any further.Covid-19 remains a threat to human existence, and communities the world over may not be ready for another viral pandemic.

 The dilly dallying that was evident during the early stages of Covid-19 should not be repeated with G4.Economies, livelihoods, jobs and social life have been greatly affected by Covid-19.

Human experience and knowledge accumulated so far in trying to curb and combat Covid-19 should be applied in containing G4 so that it would not cause further disruptions. The starting point should be providing masses with appropriate education on how they can play a pivotal role in stopping the disease in its tracks