Tanzania: Mtwara Cement Plant to Offer 10,000 Jobs
Posted on : Saturday , 17th January 2015
OVER 10,000 people are expected to be employed directly and indirectly at the Dangote Cement Factory at Msijute area in Mtwara Region, which is slated to commence production in August.The factory, which is owned by Africa's richest person, Alhaj Aliko Dangote, has as well announced plans to improve social amenities in Mtwara region by constructing a state-of-the-art hospital, a modern marketplace, a school and a police station.
Dangote Tanzania's Country Representative, Ms Esther Baruti-Kroll, made the remarks during a meeting with board members of the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), boasting that the cement plant will be the largest in the East African region.
"When the plant starts production, it will provide 1,000 direct and 9,000 indirect jobs to the local people. We are highly optimistic that the cement plant will play a crucial role in boosting the local economy and curb unemployment. "We are yet to start announcing job openings but this will be very soon.There have been misleading reports on social media regarding the jobs, but these vacancies will be advertised through 'Daily News' and 'HabariLeo'," Ms Baruti- Kroll told the TPDC board.
She said the company has also allocated a six-acre area on which to put social amenities, including a modern hospital, market, school and a police station. Villagers living near the plant should also have reason to smile after she announced that starting next month, a total of 450m/- has been allocated to dish loans to 10 villages surrounding the industrial unit.
"Alhaj Dangote had pledged to support nearby villagers and to start with, a sum of 450m/- has been allocated for that purpose.
The people have already organised themselves in groups and the funds will be disbursed effective February, this year," Ms Baruti-Kroll, explained. Among ambitious plans by the plant is construction of a 75-megawatt gas-fired electricity generating plant to provide power to the factory and neighbouring villages, as well as construction of its own anchorage at Mtwara Port.
"The anchorage will be constructed 20 kilometres from the factory to enable us to easily transport cement within and outside the country. Dangote Cement will be the leading producer in the East and Central African region," she pointed out. Ms Baruti-Kroll added that plans are underway to acquire a fleet of 600 trucks to facilitate transportation and distribution of cement to all parts of the country.
We will be producing over 7,500 tonnes per day," she reported. She blamed current higher prices for cement to transportation costs, particularly to regions on the peripheral. A 50-kilogramme bag of cement is currently sold at between 13,000/- and 15,000/- in Dar es Salaam while the same fetches over 20,000/- in upcountry regions.
The total demand for cement in Tanzania stands at 3 million tonnes each year and yet existing factories can only produce 1.2 tonnes. Dangote Cement will be producing 3 million tonnes per annum for local and foreign markets.
Source : http://allafrica.com/stories/201501140475.html
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