MwanaHabari
JF-Expert Member
- Nov 9, 2006
- 442
- 13
September 22, 2007
A leg up for Hillal Hamad Hillal
SECTION: POLITICS & POWER
LENGTH: 317 words
A 2,900 square metre plot of land in the commercial centre of Dar es-Salaam has been sold for the sum of 440 million shillings (EUR248,000) to the head of the Tanzanian mining company El Hillal Minerals Ltd (EHM), although its value had been estimated at 1.85 billion shillings (EUR1 million). The deal was concluded discreetly and without going through a call for tenders between the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC) and the chairman of EHM, Hillal Hamad Hillal, who is a benefactor member of the government party, the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Hillal had initially contacted the ministry of finance to facilitate this transaction. But in vain. He therefore then turned to the Prime Minster Edward Lowassa, whom he persuaded to intervene in his favour so that he could obtain the plot of land.
He wants to build a 12 storey building on it, costing $12 million, to house a bank and a new diamond auction room. Lowassa was convinced by the project and asked the PSRC to "help Mr Hillal in accordance with the law". With this go-ahead, Hillal went back to the ministry of finance which finally acceded to his request, although it did nevertheless ask the PSRC to evaluate the property before setting the sale price. In May 2007, the PSRC therefore took on the services of the firm TKA Limited which examined the ground and estimated the land at 1.85 billion shillings. But this did not, however, stop the PSRC from selling the land to Hillal for the price he had originally offered, a quarter of its estimated value. EHM began its mining activity in January 2004 through a licence it obtained the previous year for the Mwadui diamond-bearing zone, near the famous Williamson Mines in Shinyanga. Now the second diamond mining company in the country, EHM produced diamonds worth $4.4 million in 2005, exported 10% of its production and paid over $220,000 in tax to the Tanzanian government.
URL: www.IndianOceanNewsletter.com
A leg up for Hillal Hamad Hillal
SECTION: POLITICS & POWER
LENGTH: 317 words
A 2,900 square metre plot of land in the commercial centre of Dar es-Salaam has been sold for the sum of 440 million shillings (EUR248,000) to the head of the Tanzanian mining company El Hillal Minerals Ltd (EHM), although its value had been estimated at 1.85 billion shillings (EUR1 million). The deal was concluded discreetly and without going through a call for tenders between the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC) and the chairman of EHM, Hillal Hamad Hillal, who is a benefactor member of the government party, the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). Hillal had initially contacted the ministry of finance to facilitate this transaction. But in vain. He therefore then turned to the Prime Minster Edward Lowassa, whom he persuaded to intervene in his favour so that he could obtain the plot of land.
He wants to build a 12 storey building on it, costing $12 million, to house a bank and a new diamond auction room. Lowassa was convinced by the project and asked the PSRC to "help Mr Hillal in accordance with the law". With this go-ahead, Hillal went back to the ministry of finance which finally acceded to his request, although it did nevertheless ask the PSRC to evaluate the property before setting the sale price. In May 2007, the PSRC therefore took on the services of the firm TKA Limited which examined the ground and estimated the land at 1.85 billion shillings. But this did not, however, stop the PSRC from selling the land to Hillal for the price he had originally offered, a quarter of its estimated value. EHM began its mining activity in January 2004 through a licence it obtained the previous year for the Mwadui diamond-bearing zone, near the famous Williamson Mines in Shinyanga. Now the second diamond mining company in the country, EHM produced diamonds worth $4.4 million in 2005, exported 10% of its production and paid over $220,000 in tax to the Tanzanian government.
URL: www.IndianOceanNewsletter.com
