Investments in Tanzania needs prior environmental impact assessment

NATIONAL Environment Management Council (NEMC) has started issuing provisional permits in three-day period in an ambitious drive to attract investments. According to NEMC acting Director General Dr Vedast Makota, provisional permits will enable investors to continue mobilizing materials prior to the project commencement. “Issuance of provisional permits aims at helping investors to avoid unnecessary bureaucracies in initial investment procedures as the council continues with Environment Impact Assessment (EIA),” Dr Makota explained. Dr Makota said the issuance of provisional permits in three days time will play a vital role in stimulating the industrial growth and development. “The provisional permit is critical to investors, it avails them with an opportunity to continue with preliminary works, pending other environmental evaluations,” he said. Dr Makota emphasized that the council will continue with its role of educating the public and investors on the importance of protecting environment. “Before production commences, an investor will be required to present to NEMC the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) as a requirement to meet environmental protection standards,” he stressed. Earlier, the Manager from the Science and Environment Institute of India, Mr Sujit Kumar Singh, who facilitated the programme said the training sought to enhance the capacity of participants to promote investments and yet preserve the environment. “The training will build capacity of NEMC employees in inspection and other related activities in real estates and mining,” he said. The training attracted 70 experts who received training on various techniques of inspecting without affecting investments and economic development activities. NEMC has introduced the technique hardly a week after Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) announced that investment climate in Tanzania has improved, with Direct Foreign Investments (DFIs) soaring as well. TIC Executive Director Godfrey Mwambe said in Dar es Salaam last week that the centre has simplified investment procedures by putting all the services under one-stop centre, with the goal of getting rid of bureaucracy and corruption. According to TIC data, in 2016/17 fiscal year alone, Tanzania registered investments worth 4.259 billion US dollars, topping in the FDI flow ranking in the Eastern African region.