Police act on handling acid materials

Police Force in the country is planning to come up with a special modality of handling acidic material by regulating its importation, management and selling procedures. The resolve by Police was announced in Dar es Salaam on Saturday last week by Inspector General of Police ( IGP) Said Mwema three days after individuals poured acidic on two British girls in Zanzibar.  Flanked by Director of Public Prosecution ( DPP) Elieza Feleshi and Chief Government Chemist Prof Samwel Manyele  IGP Mwema said the major objective of putting stringent regulations on acid handling  is to ensure the dangerous liquid does not land in the hands of criminals. He said police force is currently working in collaboration with the office of the Chief government chemist over the control of the dangerous liquids which according to him has become a serious weapon used by some criminals to harm people. Either IGP Mwema stressed that, the police is also planning to work closely with the people in the country to help control the handling of the acidic in order to ensure their safety and also let them know its dangerous impact despite it has an economic use for industrial processing. IGP Mwema has asked people to report any planned mission which might have been organized by criminals believed to take an acid with a view to cause harm to others anywhere and that all police stations in the country have been alerted to be aware of the impeding dangers ahead. However, he has called on the cooperation among the people in the country as this is not an easy task to be controlled by the police force alone bearing in mind the fact that Tanzania has a vast area with a growing population of 45 million people.  “Sulphuric Acid is for the economic use for the industries and not purposely to harm people” he said and asked people to report to the police to enable on the misuse of this liquid which some criminals have turned it to be a weapon to harm their enemies. He further stated that, the increased acts of pouring an acid to the people in the country has caused a great threat to the lives of the people in the country and the police force is asking people to cooperate in order to net the culprits as prevention is better than cure, moreover the issue is a concern of everyone. Elaborating on the control of the acidic use, the Chief Government Chemist Professor Manyele said that, there is a need to review the Acid control Act which would starts from home and even in industrial processing plants where the liquid is extensively us

Inspector General of Police Said Mwema

ed for economic purposes.  He said the control should involve security organs in the country and that all users must now be registered and given instructions on how to use the acid. He said there must be permits to be issued to both sellers as well as users. Sellers will now be forced to register their customers systematically giving the details of their residences, the quantity sold and for which purpose. He said adding that all these details would be supervised by a special supervision team. He also noted that, motorbike drivers will not be given permits which will enable them go straight with their motor vehicles to a seller and fill the quantities they like for brake lining instead of the way as it is done now. All these preparations he said will start effectively in October this year as the government is also planning to build the main poison control centre in the country which will coordinate all the details. The Director of the Public Prosecution Elieza Feleshi said that, any criminal case requires to have adequate for conviction.