A MINISTER of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba, has said his ministry requires 90 million USD (over 180bn/-) to implement five major environmental projects in a period of five years.
The projects are capacity building for environmental Management and Climate Change issues in Tanzania (USD 5 million), Operationalisation of the National Environmental Trust Fund--NETF (USD 10 million) and Implementation of the National Tree Planting and Management Strategy (USD 50 million).
Others are Enhancing National Capacity for Implementation of the Environmental Management Act (USD 5 million), and Promoting Alternative Energy Sources to reduce charcoal consumption in Tanzania (USD 20 million).
Speaking at a meeting with development partners from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), members of the European Union and the International Donor Community, Mr Makamba said the money would be obtained from the government budget and other sources including funds from donors.
The Germany ambassador to Tanzania, Egon Kochanke said the technical team of the donor community would meet to decide on the amount of money that would be released to finance the projects outlined by the minister.
“We have several funds for environmental projects and because we have bilateral programes the next meeting will come up with a good conclusion,’’ he said at a joint media briefing at the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
According to the minister, the implementation of the projects would be coordinated by the Vice President’s Office (VPO) and implemented through various actors mainly public and private stakeholders in the country.
To ensure sustainability of the National Environment Trust Fund, Mr Makamba said, the government has committed 2bn/- budgetary allocations to support it in the next financial year and that other additional sources of funds have been identified so as to ensure predictable and sustainable financing mechanism.
