Songas Ltd donates Sh. 560m/- yearly for education

The leading electricity power producing company, Songas limited is disbursing a total of $ 350,000 (about Sh. 560m/-) every year to facilitate the provision of educational need for rural community people in the country. The firm’s Infrastructure Manager Malcolm Taylor said on Saturday last week in Dar es Salaam that, his company spends such a huge sum of money together with other things to sponsor candidates pursuing engineering courses of various disciplines in higher learning institutions in the country. He said that, the disbursed money is half of the company’s total budget expenditure set aside every year to facilitate its Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in areas where it has directly invested. Taylor said in an exclusive interview at a function where Songas Ltd handed over educational facilities to Benaco Primary School which is located at Kilimahewa area in Wazo ward, Kinondoni municipality. The facilities includes, four newly constructed classrooms that the company built at a cost of Sh. 55m/-, 100 pupils’ desks worth Sh. 12m/-, a leveled playing ground for pupils at the school whose maintenance cost reached up to Sh12m/- plus playing game tools for football whose cost is Sh. 2m/-. The total cost for all these is Sh. 81m/- and were received by the Councilor of Wazo ward John Marro who was the guest of honour and later handed them over to the management of the school in a colorful ceremony which was also attended by parents and guardians of the pupils studying at the school. 

He further noted that, his company has devoted much to help promote education in the country taking into account t that, education is the key tool for a prosperous future life especially at this time when the world is converged with new technological changes. However, he added that, Tanzania need to take drastic measures to ensure that, it builds a firm educational foundation for younger generation.  Songas’ Public Relations Officer in-charge f community Nicodemus Chipakapaka said that, the Saturday’s activities which involved also planting of the flower trees and wall painting of some dilapidated classrooms at the school compound by Songas workers, is part of the 10^th anniversary celebrations of Songas since it started operation of the country in August 2004. On her part the school headmistress, Rhoda Zigula, than ked the Songas company for their contribution and expressed further hope for her school and pupils in general. She noted that the school which started in 2008, had only 200 pupils and now are 1,259 among them females are 660 while boys are 599. The school started with only 2 teachers and now it has 20 teachers, among them there are 2 male teachers whereas the rest 18 are females.