The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Salma Said
9 July 2009
The Zanzibar Government has re-stated its position on oil and natural gas resources, saying they should be excluded from the Union list.
The Minister for Water, Works, Energy and Land, Mr Mansour Yussuf Himid, said this before the House of Representatives yesterday, when tabling 2009/10 budget estimates for his ministry.
Mr Himid said he had prepared a paper which was discussed by the the Revolutionary Council on February 27 regarding the matter.
"We prepared the paper with a view of getting official position of the government on this matter," he told the House.
Speaker Pandu Ameir Kificho was forced to call the House to order before the minister started delivering his budget speech.
"This is a very important issue, we should all listen carefully," said Mr Kificho, after seeing that most of them were eager to hear what the minister had in store for them.
Mr Himid said, after the discussing the paper, the Revolutionary Council members, who are essentially ministers, came up with three recommendations.
He said the Council resolved that all the resources within Zanzibar's territorial waters, as explained in the Zanzibar Constitution under article 2(1), should fall under its direct authority.
He went on to clarify that drilling of oil and natural gas should be done by the Zanzibar government without any interference from the Union government.
Another recommendation was that the Zanzibar government form an institution to be responsible for coordinating all activities regarding exploration and drilling of oil, natural gas and other resources.
The Council also resolved to ask the House to pass a resolution to the effect that the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) be jointly managed with the Union Government under a special agreement.
"Mr Speaker I presented these resolutions before the House on March 3, this year and the representatives approved the first two but expressed some reservations on the third recommendation," he said.
On the third resolution, the representatives decided that exploration and drilling of oil and natural gas even in the EEZ be under Zanzibar authority.
He said on June 9, this year, the Council met again to discuss a report from his ministry on what the House had recommended and subsequently decided that oil and natural gas be excluded from the Union list.
"The Council also agreed that all on-shore and off-shore activities, including those in EEZ should be put under Zanzibar authority," the minister said.
He also said the Council had directed the ministry to analyse energy policy especially the management of oil and natural gas resources.
The Council also directed the ministry to start preparing oil and natural gas Bill before it is enacted into a law that would establish an institution to oversee oil and natural gas issues in Zanzibar.
"The Council also directed that a full report on the resolutions be presented during the next meeting of Union officials for discussion," he said.
Zanzibar has no known gas and oil deposits despite their persistent demands that the resources be non-Union matters.
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