23 MILLION PEOPLE
The Minister for Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning, Mr. Cleopa Msuya estimates that Tanzania’s population now totals 23 million, almost double that of 1967. The estimate is based on an annual population growth rate of 3.3% which the Minister described as ‘very high’. He noted that the economic growth rate was only 2.5%. “If the actual population coincides with the estimated figure” he said “it means that we have been getting poorer, year in, year out”.

The Minister announced that the next census would be conducted in August 1988 and that it would cost some 80 million shillings. In Zanzibar the Statistics Department estimates a population growth rate of 2.7% p.a. during the period between the last two censuses – 1967 and 1978. Zanzibar’s population should therefore be well in excess of half a million today. – Daily News.

STOWAWAYS
Stowaways from Tanzania are turning up in various parts of the world and the Government is beginning to express some concern about the problem. In the most recent cases, three are understood to have died in a ship near Dar es Salaam; another group were thrown into the water off Mtwara; they were provided by the Greek captain of the ship with lifebuoys and survived to face prison sentences when they returned to land; and seven have been reported as being rounded up in the Atlantic Ocean islands of Sao Tome and Principe. Another group did not get so far. They were arrested in Maputo.

Mwalimu Nyerere, during a recent tour of Kilimanjaro Region, bitterly criticised parents, according to the Daily News, who encouraged their children to stowaway in the belief that the youths would thus easily acquire wealth and be able to buy luxury goods from foreign countries. The Party Chairman called for a joint drive incorporating parents, the Party and the Government to deal with the problem.

DAR BUILDINGS DESCRIBED AS DANGEROUS
A probe team investigating the collapse of a building in Msimbazi Street, Dar es Salaam in August last year, which resulted in the death of two persons, has concluded that the Consultant, the Dar es Salaam City Council and its officials were directly responsible for the accident through negligence and technical incompetence.

The team said that it had also found irregularities in other projects it had studied. Architectural drawings were inadequate, land use requirements were not followed, the sizes of rooms were below requirements and in public buildings, such as cinema halls, toilets were not provided.

Since January 1985 some 3,000 building permits have been issued by the Dar es Salaam City Council but the probe team considered that “probably up to 95% of these … are incorrectly issued”.

The team suggested two ways to deal with the problem, There should be a quick re-appraisal by 15 registered architects and 15 registered engineers of some 3,500 projects; this should take six months. The second approach would be for another team of architects and engineers to do a detailed re-appraisal of some 700 selected projects over a period of nine months. In the meantime, all permits should be revoked except in cases where proof could be furnished that registered architects and engineers had been involved – Dai1y News.

VIJANA CRITICISED
A strongly worded letter from a reader (Mr. Satiel Mgalla) to the Daily News has taken the C.C.M. Party youth wing, VIJANA, to task. “Tanzanian youths are today a scandal to the old generation because of their participation in racketeering, murders, bhang smoking, stowawaying and, you name it, any criminal activities reported …. it puzzles me to read however in the newspapers the Party youth wing concentrating in condemning apartheid South Africa, MNR Mozambique, UNITA Angola bandits while Tanzania’s youths roam in urban streets creating terror to law abiding senior citizens. My advice to VIJANA is that building socialism is not dancing to the tune of ‘Mdundiko’ (Zaramo dance music) and that let it clean its own house before indulging in condemnations of other evils outside our border … ”

….AND PRAISED
The day following publication of this letter however, Party Secretary General Rashidi Kawawa was reported to have praised VIJANA for its timely completion of the main platform, designed to seat 276 delegates, at Dodoma, in preparation for the Third Party Conference which was due to open four days later.