Panasonic Company from Japan has donated a solar energy-producing facility worth Sh300 million to the Millennium Villages Project in Uyui District, Tabora Region.

The company's director, Mr Hidetoshi Osawa, handed over the facility to Tabora regional commissioner, Ms Fatma Mwassa, at Mbola Primary School in Uyui. Mr Osawa said the facility would be used to produce solar energy for various development activities in the villages under the project and would be installed at Mbola Village.

He said the donation is part of initiatives to conserve environment at the millennium village and the surrounding ones. Dwellers in most rural parts opt to use kerosene and firewood as their domestic source of energy.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony, a representative from Japanese Embassy in the country, Mr Siuchiro Kawatach, said the donation is part of collaborative efforts by his government and other stakeholders to help villagers fight poverty. In 2006, Japan donated $20,000 to the Millennium Village Project to improve villagers' income generating activities. For her part, Ms Mwassa urged villagers to ensure sustainable use of the solar energy producing facility.

The Millennium Village Project coordinator, Dr Gerson Nyadzi, commended the company for the assistance, saying it would help in teaching students, conducting researches and assisting villagers in their daily undertakings.