IRINGA MUNICIPAL CONSTRUCTS SAMORA-MASHINE TATU-MKWAWA ROAD TO BITUMEN

Iringa Municipal Council (IMC) has begun construction of the road to bitumen standard (Asphalt Concrete) with a length of 3.4 kilometers from Samora Memorial Stadium, Mashine tatu to Mkwawa.

Speaking to The Guardian yesterday in his office the Iringa

Municipality Engineer Mashaka Luhamba said that the contractor who is construction the road is already at work and has done for ten percent(10 %) of work.

He said the contractor’s from southern link limited company, building and civil engineering has started work of mobilization and all machinery like caterpillar, excavator and compactor are going on with work.

The project is funded by the Tanzanian government through Urban Local Government Strengthening Support Program (ULGSP) and it will cost Shs 5.367,227,843 / -after completion and work time is eight months.

The road has been upgraded from dust road to a tarmac in order to dis-congest the town with a lot vehicles passing through middle of the town.

The government has established several projects included Urban Local Government Strengthening Program (ULGSP) in Municipal Councils to improve infrastructure.

These projects are being carried out under Prime Minister’s Office,

Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) and are financed by the World Bank (WB).

ULGSP is being implemented in Municipal Councils of Morogoro,

Singida, Shinyanga, Musoma, Tabora, Bukoba, Moshi, Lindi, Songea, Iringa and Sumbawanga and Town Councils of Geita, Bariadi, Babati, Korogwe, Kibaha, Njombe and Mpanda.

Urban Local Government Strengthening Program objective is to improve Institutional Performance for Urban Local Government Authorities.

The service delivery in the targeted Urban Local Government

Authorities (ULGAs) resulting in Improved Urban Planning Systems,Increased Own Source Revenues particularly from  Property Tax, Improved

Infrastructure delivery and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) systems and (v) Strengthened Accountability and Oversight Systems.

Infrastructure plays a vital role in any country as it stimulates the

development of investment and trade and thus contributes to improving the national economy.

FUEL PRICES DROP BY 79/- IN IRINGA TOWN

FUEL prices of petroleum products in Iringa have dropped by 79/-, one litre of petrol is sold at 1962/- from 2041/- since December last year, the Guardian can disclosed.

The Guardian yesterday conducted a random survey of some service stations in Iringa town and found that in all the filling stations were selling their petroleum products according to Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) instruction.

The filling stations visited by this paper yesterday include Hope Service Station, Iringa Service Station, GAPCO, TOTAL and TFA Service Station all in Iringa municipality.

They have also displayed the prices on both bill boards and pumps also showed same prices that were displayed bill boards.

EWURA has recently announced a slight drop in prices of petroleum products and the new cap prices which is the regulatory body in the country. 

Petroleum will be sold at 1,962/- per litre in Iringa Town a drop of 79/- from 2,041 in December last year.

Similarly, the prices for diesel (1811/-) and kerosene (1763/-) have dropped by 76/- per litre and 66/- per litre respectively.

In the statement issued by Ewura in Dar es Salaam recently indicated that to a large extent the fall in the local market prices have been caused by a drop of prices of petroleum products in the world market as well as a decrease in freight and premium charges.

According to the statement, oil marketing companies are free to sell their products at a price that gives them a competitive advantage provided that the price does not exceed the price cap for the relevant product as were computed by the approved formula which was gazetted through the Government Notice No. 405/2015 of July 2015.

Ewura also directed all petrol stations to publish petroleum product prices on clearly visible boards and make sure the price boards are clearly visible as should be any discounts offered as well as any trade incentives or promotions on offer. 

“It is an offence not to have prices published on boards located in clearly visible places in front of petrol stations and it will attract punitive measures from EWURA” reads part of the statement.

The authority reminded retailers to issue receipts for all sales that they make and consumers are advised to demand and keep receipts that clearly show the name of the petrol station, date on which such purchase was made as well as the type of fuel and price per litre for every purchase.

The Middle East accounted for about 30 percent of global oil output in 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Iran and Saudi Arabia sit on either side of the Persian Gulf, the site of world’s biggest concentration of oil tankers.

Obama to meet with Loretta Lynch to discuss 'epidemic of gun violence'

President Barack Obama will meet on Monday with attorney general Loretta Lynch to discuss executive actions he could take to make it harder for “a dangerous few” to get their hands on guns.

Obama said on his weekly radio address that he gets so many letters from parents, teachers and children about the “epidemic of gun violence” that he can’t “sit around and do nothing”.

“The gun lobby is loud and well organized in its defense of effortlessly available guns for anyone,” Obama said. “The rest of us are going to have to be just as passionate and well organized in our defense of our kids.”

Obama recently directed staff at the White House to look into potential executive actions, such as expanding background checks.




Obama calls for states to lead on gun control as Congress still fails to act

 Currently, federally licensed firearms dealers are required to seek background checks on potential firearm purchasers. But advocacy groups say some of the people who sell firearms at gun shows are not federally licensed, increasing the chance of sales to customers prohibited by law from purchasing guns.

A source familiar with the administration’s efforts said Obama is expected to take executive action next week that would set a “reasonable threshold” for when sellers have to seek a background check. That person didn’t know whether it would be based on the number of guns sold or revenue generated through gun sales.

The source, a member of a gun control advocacy group, was not authorized to discuss details before the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. White House officials won’t confirm the timing.

Obama is in Hawaii for his annual holiday vacation with his family.
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The National Rifle Association opposes expanded background check systems. The organization’s Institute for Legislative Action says studies have shown that people sent to state prison because of gun crimes typically get guns through theft, the black market or family and friends.

Also, many purchases by criminals are made from straw purchasers who pass background checks. “No amount of background checks can stop these criminals,” says the group’s website.

Obama has consistently expressed frustration after mass shootings, saying it shouldn’t be so easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.






Going into his final year in office, Obama said his New Year’s resolution is to move forward on unfinished business.

“That’s especially true for one piece of unfinished business, that’s our epidemic of gun violence,” Obama said in his weekly address.

He said a bipartisan bill from three years ago requiring background checks for virtually everyone had huge support, including among a majority of NRA households. But the Senate blocked it.

He said tens of thousands of Americans have since died as a result of gun violence.

“Each time, we’re told that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre, or the one before that, so we shouldn’t do anything,” he said. “We know that we can’t stop every act of violence. But what if we tried to stop even one?”