Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) yesterday resumed its full main line operations following a successful re-railing of the de-railed rescue crane.

TAZARA Head of Public Relations Conrad Simuchile told ZANIS in a statement today that both passenger and freight operations have reverted to full gear.

Mr. Simuchile said the express passenger train was dispatched from Dar es Salaam at 15:50 hours yesterday while two freight trains carrying copper and maize from Zambia reached Dar es Salaam last night.

He explained that threes trains will today be dispatched from Dar es Salaam, with one carrying fuel destined for Malawi and two others carrying fertilizer, cooking oil and other mixed goods all consigned to Zambia.

He said other transit trains that have resumed rolling from Malimba, Tunduma and Mpika include three trains carrying copper cathodes and maize all headed to Dar es Salaam from Zambia.

Mainland operations at TAZARA were suspended 13 days ago following the derailment of a rescue crane, about 64.6 kilometres from Dar es Salaam while attempting to salvage wagons that were involved in an accident.

ZANIS

THE upgrading of electricity generation capacity at Kariba North Bank extension power project has reached 80 per cent completion point and one new generator is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year, ZESCO acting managing director Christopher Mubemba has said.

Over the last two years, ZESCO has been spending about US$420 million at the 360 Mega Watts (MW) Kariba North Bank extension power project in adding two new generators to the existing four.

Mr Mubemba said generator number five was expected be spinning and commissioned by the end of this year while generator number six would be commissioned and operational by early next year.

He said this in Livingstone on Tuesday during his presentations at the Energy Regulation Board (ERB)’s public hearing on ZESCO’s application to revise electricity tariffs by an average of 26 per cent across all customer categories.

Mr Mubemba said ZESCO was intending to invest heavily on electricity generation to meet continued increment in the demand for electricity.

“This year, we have an approved budget under US$ 750 million (KR3.62 billion) to boost power supply.

Over the next five years, we will spend about US$ 5.3 billion on generation expansion, transmission expansion and distribution expansion among others which translates to about KR26.4 billion,” Mr Mubemba said.

On the 120 MW Itezhi-tezhi hydro power project where ZESCO was adding two machines, Mr Mubemba said access roads and offices had already been built at the site while houses for contractors were currently being built.

He said ZESCO was currently concentrating on tunnelling works on the US$ 250 million project where which was 20 per cent complete and was expected to be completed in the year 2015.

On the 750 MW Kafue Gorge lower power project, Mr Mumemba said more works would be done in the next five years.

“This is our biggest project which we will we need to deal with in the next five years as the project will cost us US$2 billion.

Without projects like the Kafue Gorge Lower, we will have power deficits of about 1, 000 Mega Watts by 2020,” he said.

On transmission side, Mr Mubemba said ZESCO had started building 330 kv a line from Pensulo to Kasama as well as another line from Pensulo to Chipata to boost power supply in the surrounding provinces.

“These works are ongoing and once projects are completed within next 18 to 24 months and they will immediately address the current low voltage problems in Northern, Muchinga, Luapula, and Eastern Provinces.

They also will help investors set up projects. It is not a secret within Eastern Province that investors have been interested to invest in so many areas but they can’t so because of low voltage problems,” he said.

In Luapula and Muchinga, investors have also been interested to set up large mines but such projects could not take off due to inadequate power supply.

Out of the US$ 750 million which the Government raised from the euro bond, ZESCO has received US$ 255 million.

About $186 million would be ZESCO’s equity contribution towards the Kafue Lower Gorge project while about US$ 69 million would be for improving electricity distribution and rehabilitation.

The on-going National Constitution Convention has retained an article in the First Draft Constitution on the borrowing and lending by government to permit it to borrow money from any source but subject to parliament authorization.

Clause (1) of Article 282 provides that Government may borrow money from any source and further in clause (2) of the same article explains that government shall not borrow, guarantee or raise a loan on behalf of itself or any state organ, state institution, authority or person except as authorized by or under an Act of Parliament.

But clause (3) has categorically explained that notwithstanding clause (2) the government shall lay before the National Assembly the terms and conditions of the loan which shall not come into operation unless approved by a simple majority vote of National Assembly and pay any money received in respect of the loan paid into the consolidated Fund or into some other public fund which exists or is created for the purpose of the loan.

In this case Government will be required to lay before the National Assembly terms and conditions that includes the source of the loan, the extent of the total indebtedness by the way of principal and accumulated interests, the provisions made for servicing or repaying of the loan and the utilization and performance of the loan.

Meanwhile , the house has adopted Article 279 (1) to provide that the president shall subject to clause (2) cause to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly in each financial year, not later than ninety days before the commencement of the financial year, estimates of revenues and expenditure of the government for the next financial year.

And clause (2) of the same article has been adopted which provides that the Minister shall, when presenting the estimates of revenue and expenditure under clause (1) specify the maximum limits that the government intends to borrow or lend in that financial year.

While clause (3) states that in any year where a general election takes place, the president shall cause to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly, within ninety days of the swearing in of the president, estimates of revenues and expenditure of the government for next financial year.

The group justified that the clause would ensure that the government-elect could implement their plans and policies in the following year.

The Draft Constitution has further mandated Parliament in article 280, to enact legislation relating to the annual budget and estimates of expenditure including the method for the preparation of the budget, the preparation of medium and long term development plans indicating corresponding sources of financing.

The house adopted the recommendations by the thematic group on Public Finance that the article be adopted without amendment after it was explained that the amendments would be provided for in an Act of Parliament.

But the house agreed that the marginal note on article 280 be amended by introducing the words ‘planning and ‘ , so that it could read as planning and budget legislation after amendment.