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Drug addicts `destroying Stone Town`
2005-07-06 08:56:20
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
Drug addicts are damaging historical buildings in Zanzibar’s Stone Town area, the House of Representatives was told on Monday.
Zanzibar’s Minister of Water, Works, Energy and Land, Burhan Saadat Haji, said when presenting his ministry’s 2005/6 budget estimates that the addicts stole fixtures from the buildings and used the money to buy drugs.
’’Drug addicts have damaged several historical buildings in the Stone Town area by removing fixtures and other valuable parts. The aim is to get quick money which they spend on drugs,’’ he said.
The minister added that the damage was estimated to run into millions of shillings. The Stone Town is a World Heritage Site.
On electricity, Haji said Zanzibar State Fuel and Power Corporation was operating at a loss due to the high cost of generating and distributing electricity, especially in Pemba.
While the utility was spending an average of 265m/- each month on fuel used to run three generators in Pemba, it was collecting just 90m/- in revenue in Pemba every month.
’’Losses resulting from the use of diesel to generate power in Pemba are staggering,’’ he said and added that plans to connect Pemba to the national grid through Tanga were being considered.
Haji said the power company’s customers owed it 13.5bn/-, with the Zanzibar government alone yet to pay 8.5bn/-.
The firm recently paid 80m/- to Tanzania Electric Supply Company which it owes almost 19bn/-.
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