PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan is upbeat about the recently launched Kilwa Masoko Fishing Port project, which will drive Tanzania’s ambitious blue economy agenda.
While speaking during an event to lay its foundation stone and hand over 160 boats to fishermen and seaweed farmers in the Kilwa District of Lindi Region, Dr. Samia revealed that Kilwa can produce a lot of fish considering the rich water resources that the area has been endowed with.
“Due to available riches, the government is committed to exploring this huge potential by deploying our experts to see the possibility of engaging the youth in fishing,” she pointed out.
Assuring a readily market of fish, sea crabs, and sea cucumber products, the Head of State further stated: ” The government aims to restore the lost glory of Kilwa by making it a strong business and tourism center within and outside the country.”
She added: “I am calling for cooperation for the project to be completed so that the goals are achieved fast enough.”
In a related development, Dr Samia spoke to the youth of the government’s efforts toward introducing the Building a Better Tomorrow Youth Initiative Project (BBT-YIA) mainly for fisheries as per the geographical setting of the area.
She also pointed out that the initiative is in line with the implementation of the Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Manifesto (2020-2025) which emphasizes creating a conducive environment for the country to benefit from opportunities in the fisheries sector, both in Sea and Lakes.
In the same vein, the Head of State applauded the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries for successfully rolling out the project which is in line with the CCM Manifesto.
About the boats, Dr. Samia noted that they have been handed over to fishermen in seaweed farming at a very low interest rate, where some 139 boats will benefit small-scale fishers and 21 for seaweed farmers.
The boats are expected to improve the fishing and seaweed sectors; hence, generating 3,295 direct employees while also boosting the incomes of the community.
Likewise, Dr Samia noted that the boats will assist seaweed farmers to ply to and from areas, where they carry out their activities as well as ease transportation during the harvesting season.
Additionally, she urged the beneficiaries to ensure that the boats were well maintained and used for the intended goals in the generation of incomes, saying that the government intends to see the boats boosting the economy of Kilwa.
“The construction of the fishing port will create employment for over 30,000 Tanzanians from Kilwa and elsewhere in the country.
“Two storage facilities of 90 tons for frozen fish and 1300 tons for chilled fish will be stored at once and a fishing market will be used by fishermen as a special area for processing fish,” he pointed out.
On inviting investors to come and invest in the sector, he said that the port will be operated through a public-private partnership (PPP) mechanism.
“We have opened the door for investment of infrastructure to boost the entire value chain of the fishing sector from 50,000 tons which is worth 100 million US dollars to 500 million US dollars…we want to obtain FDIs through fisheries,” he said.