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Sale of 184 state firms to earn govt 3tr/-
2006-03-14 08:24:02
By Peter Tindwa
The 184 state-owned corporations lined up for privatisation are valued at 3 trillion shillings.
Treasury Registrar Agnes Bukuku told members of the Parliamentary Committee on Finance and Economy that plans were underway to offer for sale government shares in the 184 firms through the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.
Bukuku said that shares will be sold to the public ’soon.’
’The government still has 100 per cent ownership in 147 public institutions,’ she said.
She said that the ministry of finance reviews the performance contracts of each firm after every two years.
’The registrar is legally empowered to advise the President on how best to run or disburse subsidies to state-owned firms and institutions,’ Bukuku said.
On remittance of monthly salary deductions by public institutions Bukuku told the legislators that by June last year, over 66 firms and institutions had been blacklisted as ’notorious defaulters.’
She said that the majority of firms were reluctant to remit their workers’ monthly contributions to respective social security funds like the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and Parastatal Pension Fund (PPF).
Among the leading defaulters were Printpak Tanzania Limited (defunct) and Sungura Textile Mills.
’Poor remittance of mandatory deductions inconveniences retrenched people resulting in delays of paying them terminal benefits on time,’ she said.
The registrar was reacting to Murad Sadiq, a member of the committee, who requested to know the authority that is mandated to monitor the performance of privatised firms.
’Under existing regulations, parent ministries are the ones that are required to monitor the performance of privatised firms,’ Bukuku said.
Sadiq charged that a majority of privatised firms in Morogoro town are yet to start effective operations since they were privatised more than 10 years ago.
Bukuku, however, said a proposal on possible establishment of a single entity to monitor the performance of privatised firms had been submitted by the Ministry of Finance to the President’s Office for evaluation and action.
Bukuku was shedding light on ’Responsibilities and Duties of the Treasury Registrar’ during a meeting with members of the committee in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
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