AS the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and PPF Fund have begun initial preparations for establishment of a joint sugar factory at Mkulazi area, Morogoro Region, the government has set aside 17bn/- for the project.

1 Comment The factory, which will be producing 200,000 tonnes per year, is estimated to be the largest in East and Central Africa. The project will also open employment vacancies to more than 100,000 people at the beginning, with the number, as well as production, set to increase as the time goes on.

Speaking to Mkulazi villagers when he visited the project over the weekend, the Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Phillip Mpango, said the government had already allocated 17bn/- in the 2016/2017 financial year for finalising the compensation to residents living in the project site occupying 63,000 acres.

“Our target is to produce the amount of sugar that meets our domestic demand and export surplus to neighbouring countries. I appeal to youth of this area to ensure that they are in groups so that they can implement various projects related to the larger one, these include producing more raw materials for the factory,’’ he said.

Dr Mpango further called upon government officials in the district, including engineers to ensure that they invest much of their time in supervising the ongoing construction of the 61-km road heading to the project under the economic wing of the National Service, JKT, SUMA JKT.

“The road will be used to transport various goods from and to the factory so failure to supervise the contractor properly will lead us to have a road constructed below standard like the current one, which was constructed just a few years ago …as Finance minister, I won’t allow that to happen,’’ he insisted.

On her part, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled), Ms Jenista Mhagama, who was significantly. I am not a doctor but I will ensure that these deaths are prevented as well as bringing teenage pregnancies to an end,” she explained.

The survey also revealed an increase of Malaria infections among children under one year, to 14 per cent in 2015/16 compared to 9 percent in 2010 by use of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs). She added that the survey also revealed that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and domestic violence was still high.

However, there is an increase of women making decisions on their own. It was also revealed that there are 42 per cent out of every 100 women in urban areas who are obese and 21 per cent of the same number of women being obese in rural areas, prompting Ms Mwalimu to ask women to engage in exercises.

The TDHS-MIS 2015/2016 showed that for every 100 homesteads, only 19 have improved toilets and for every village, only 10 homesteads had such toilets. improved toilets in homesteads in the country.