Bunge committee slams govt plans to purchase Dowans power turbines (Thisday)
SEBASTIAN MRINDOKO
Dar es Salaam
A PARLIAMENTARY watchdog committee has opposed government plans to purchase a 100-megawatt thermal power plant from the controversial Dowans Holdings company.
The Bunge energy and minerals committee chaired by William Shellukindo says it has been ''shocked'' by the move being mooted by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, which it appears is contrary to advice already offered by the committee.
Shelukindo told a news conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the committee was on Sunday informed by the Minister, William Ngeleja, that the government wants to bid for the purchase of the power generators.
''We were surprised to receive this information from the minister just two days before the closing date of the tender (today, December 16),'' he stated, adding however, that the committee had been alerted by its own sources of the plan since October.
Noting that the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) has previously denied any such plans to purchase the Dowans power turbines, Shellukindo questioned why the whole matter appeared to be shrouded in secrecy.
''We in the committee are shocked to learn that government plans to purchase the Dowans turbines have been revived even after we informed the minister (Ngeleja) in Dodoma on November 7 this year, that any move to buy the turbines would be illegal and contravene a previous decision made by parliament,'' he said.
Shelukindo said under parliamentary procedures, no member of parliament (including a cabinet minister) is allowed to revive an issue that has already been previously decided on by Bunge.
According to the parliamentary declaration issued in February this year, the owners of Richmond Development Company LLC/Richmond Development Company (Tanzania) Limited � predecessors to Dowans Holdings - should be swiftly prosecuted for causing a huge loss to the government through undelivered power.
Shellukindo said it was strange that the ministry would now want to do business with Dowans, which inherited the Richmond contract under dubious circumstances, at a time when parliament's instructions on the matter have yet to be implemented.
''We cannot continue to allow people in government to do things in a rush, as previously happened with the signing of the Richmond contract in the first place,'' the committee chairman asserted.
He warned that if the ministry pushed ahead with its decision to purchase the Dowans power turbines, parliament will take Ngeleja to task.
''It is the parliamentary duty and obligation to supervise and moderate government performance, but if the decisions made by parliament are not implemented, it will cause unnecessary conflict between the two institutions (government and parliament),'' he said.
According to Shellukindo, it would also be going against public procurement regulations for the government to purchase the Dowans power turbines since they are ''already old and cannot function properly.''
''When the minister consulted us (committee) on an alternative power supply, we advised him to negotiate with Independent Power Tanzania Company (IPTL), especially over the ongoing court proceedings on capacity charges, so that it may start operating and generating electricity to cover the expected power shortage in the national grid,'' he explained.
Committee member Christopher Ole Sendeka told the news conference that it would be a misuse of national resources to purchase the �old-fashioned and outdated� Dowans power turbines at a cost of $60bn (approx.70bn/-).
He suggested that the latest move being pushed by the ministry was probably a ploy to cleanse all those individuals involved in the whole Richmond contract scandal saga.
''This could have far-reaching consequences on the national economy, and the people's confidence in their government could drop again,'' Ole Sendeka stated.