Tanzania: IPTL Requests Compassionate Eye From President SAMIA -

By PROSPER MAKENE, Dar es Salaam

THE Management of the Independent Power Tanzania Limited IPTL) has said that it is ready to sit at the same table with the government to save the precarious situation of the project that is important for the development of the nation.

The IPTL plant with 10 engines capable of producing 100 Mega Watts of electricity was stopped by order of the government in June 2017, causing it to be in a dilapidated condition, which prompts the Director and board member of the company to send a special request to President Dr SAMIA SULUHU HASSAN.

The IPTL Director, Mr JAMES YARAH, told journalists in a special interview in Dar es Salaam recently that in order to reform plant, an amount of 30 million US dollars is needed for repairs and to start the first phase of production of 50 Mega Watts.

Mr JAMES YARAH, The Director and Board Member of IPTL speaking to journalists recently in Tegeta Dar es Salaam

“This amount is Tanzania Shilings 7,620,000,000 shillings. We ask Hon. The President should look at IPTL with a sympathetic eye. We are ready to sit at the same table with the government as was done with Symbion,” said YARAH continued,

…our goal is to ask for these funds because the condition of our plant is currently bad, it is getting worn out, equipment theft and its area has turned into a jungle, which causes the value of the investment to continue to decrease day by day,” he said.

Giving more details, the director, he said until the plant was closed in June, 2017, the value of the plant was 250, 237,000,000 shillings, although due to the damage that occurred in each investment area, it is obvious that the value has dropped and needs to be saved.

If the government gives them the amount of 30 million dollars, he said they have the ability to return the factory to its original condition within three months and produce the first phase 50 Mega Watts for six months of the first phase by turning on five engines which will help end the problem of electricity distribution in this country.

He expressed, before the plant stopped production, 100 megawatts were being produced by the 10 engines of the plant and fed into the national grid to strengthen the electricity in the region of Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Zanzibar.

“Our president is fighting in every corner of the world to strengthen relations with the intention of increasing investors. The efforts of Dr SAMIA will bear fruit if the nation will have reliable electricity, and the IPTL project is part of the investors to support the achievement of those goals to develop our nation’s economy,” he emphasised.

IPTL stopped production in 2017 after the Energy and Water Regulatory Authority (EWURA) suspended the production license. Since then the factory is under the government.

Independent Power Tanzania Limited (IPTL) was the leading electric power generation company in Tanzania, produced 80 percent of electricity consumed in Dar es Salaam.

With its wealth of experience, established corporate base and a clear vision, the company intended to maintain leadership in the liberalized electric energy sub-sector in Tanzania and the Eastern Africa Region.