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Three implicated in saga over Isles` imported rice
2007-10-24 09:25:09
By Mwinyi Sadallah, Zanzibar
The saga over the Zanzibar rice importation scandal allegation resurfaced yesterday, with the government implicating Isles businessman Said Nasser Bopar and two government officials.
At the centre of the saga are reports that a consignment of imported rice now confirmed to have been unfit for human consumption made it into Zanzibar, where it was supplied to retail and wholesale traders and on to unsuspecting consumers.
Machano Othman, Minister of State in the Chief Minister`s Office, told the House of Representatives that a team of experts picked by the government to probe the matter had confirmed the allegations.
The minister, who was tabling the team`s findings, added that government officials involved in the scam would be dealt with without mercy.
Allegations on the scandal have previously triggered heated debate between the Isles government on the one hand and legislators and members of the public on the other.
At one time, the government played down the issue but an outcry by Members of the House and the public forced the authorities concerned to form a commission to probe the matter.
The minister said the team had conducted thorough investigations that revealed conclusively that Bopar had indeed imported the rice - from Pakistan.
`The imported consignment had standard certificate No.
AS075/06 but was without a safety certificate,` he told a hushed House, adding: `It has been discovered that the Business Director and Heath Trustee at the Port of Zanzibar failed to satisfy themselves whether the safety certificate was in place. Both officials completely failed to fulfil their duties,` noted minister Othman.
`The commission discovered that the rice was not fit for human consumption and that the two chief executives violated procedures by failing to alert police accordingly by writing a letter requesting security at Mazizini Police Station instead of forwarding the letter to the relevant regional police commander or the commissioner of police in Zanzibar,` he observed.
The minister said that, after the rice had entered the Isles, the government officials responsible and the businessmen violated the law by having the consignment taken into godowns usually used for storing goods other than rice instead of alerting the Government Chief Chemist.
He elaborated: `After the rice entered the Isles, a sample with reference number 82-A was taken and it was proved that the rice was unfit for human consumption.
However, the Director for Commerce decided not to believe the report and instead sent another sample with reference number 82-B.`
According to the minister, the Government Chief Chemist`s report on the second sample suspiciously showed that the rice was fit for human consumption except for 20 sacks.
He said the Port Trustee was found to have flouted regulations on the matter by deciding to have the `spoiled` rice destroyed without involving other relevant authorities like the Environment and Trade directors and the Zanzibar Municipal Council.
Opposition camp House Members dismissed the commission`s report, saying it was deliberately aimed at shielding top government officials linked to the scandal.
`We find it impossible to buy the report because it is highly suspect. We trust the soldiers and other experts who formed the commission but we have to ask why Members of this august House were not involved in the investigations,` said opposition spokesperson Haji Faki Shaali (Civic United Front).
He charged that the report was deliberately bent on shielding and absolving businessman Said Nasser (Bopar) `because he is among the major sponsors of the ruling CCM in Zanzibar`.
`Since the importation of the rice in question was due to gross negligence by government officials, it would have made much more sense if we had formed a genuinely independent commission to investigate the matter,` the legislator pointed out.
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