Posted on December, 4, 2018 at 10:24 am
By Louis Kolumbia
Dar es Salaam — The ministry of Agriculture is struggling to clear 4,500 tonnes of fertiliser that is stuck at the Dar es Salaam Port, which was imported by the Tanzania Fertiliser Company Limited (TFC).
Minister for Agriculture Japhet Hasunga yesterday told The Citizen during an exclusive interview that the consignment was being withheld by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) over a Sh2 billion import levy.
He said TFC, which is under the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, had requested clearance of fertiliser and payment of the money after the commodity had been traded. However, he said TRA rejected TFC proposal, leaving supply and distribution of fertilisers to farmers this season causing huge uncertainty.
"Unfortunately, the issue has been just reported to me. I'm planning to meet the TFC and TRA executives tomorrow to resolve the matter and get the input released ready to be distributed to farmers," he said.
According to him, TFC was supposed to import 10,000 tonnes of different types of fertilisers for the 2018/19 season, noting that the remaining 5,500 tonnes were expected to arrive on Saturday.
"If the 5,500 tonnes have arrived at the Dar es Salaam Port, then the total amount of fertiliser being withheld is equivalent to all 10,000 tonnes," he said during a telephone interview.
When asked the type of intervention he was going to make, Mr Hasunga said he was going to reiterate the TFC commitment to service the bill after fertilisers had been supplied and distributed to farmers.
"I will also see if my docket can raise some of the money to assist TFC and refund us after the input has been traded to farmers," he said, adding:
"All we need is quick release of the fertiliser to allow timely distribution to enable farmers to purchase the input at affordable prices, especially tobacco farmers, who will be greatly impacted by any further delays."
When contacted yesterday, TRA's Tax Payer Education director Richard Kayombo declined to comment, saying he lacked proper information on the issue.
Source: The Citizen