Katika mazungumzo hayo pamoja na mambo mengine wamekubaliana kujengwa kwa bomba la kusafirisha mafuta kutoka Bandari ya Tanga nchini Tanzania hadi nchini Uganda.
Rais Museveni amemtembelea Rais Magufuli katika Ikulu ndogo ya Arusha leo jioni mara baada ya kuwasili hapa nchini akitokea nchini Uganda, ambapo hapo kesho atahudhuria Mkutano Mkuu wa 17 wa kawaida wa wakuu wa nchi wanachama wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, utakaofanyika katika Hoteli ya Ngurudoto Jijini Arusha.
Akizungumza baada ya viongozi hao kufanya mazungumzo ya faragha, Rais Magufuli amesema wamekubaliana kutekeleza mradi huo wa bomba la kusafirisha mafuta kutoka Tanga hadi Uganda, kwa manufaa ya nchi zote mbili na nchi nyingine za Afrika Mashariki.
Amesema bomba hilo litakuwa na urefu wa kilometa 1,120 na kwamba mradi huo utazalisha ajira za watu zaidi ya 15,000.
Rais Magufuli ameongeza kuwa pamoja na kujengwa kwa bomba la mafuta, pia wamezungumzia kuongeza biashara ndani ya nchi za jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, kujenga viwanda na kuzalisha ajira zaidi kupitia sekta mbalimbali za uzalishaji mali.
Aidha, Rais Magufuli amesema katika Mkutano huu nchi wanachama watajadili maombi ya nchi ya Sudan Kusini kupata uanachama ndani ya Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki.
Amebainisha kuwa, kwa Sudan Kusini kuwa mwanachama Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, itakuwa na uwezo wa kufanya biashara katika eneo lenye takribani watu milioni 150 na hivyo kupata manufaa makubwa zaidi.
Kwa upande wake Rais Yoweri Kaguta Museven pamoja na kuunga mkono yaliyosemwa na Rais Magufuli amempongeza kwa kasi yake nzuri aliyoanza nayo katika uongozi, na amesema ni matumaini yake kuwa nchi wanachama wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki, sasa zitakuwa katika nafasi nzuri ya kwenda kwa kasi ya Rais Magufuli katika maendeleo.
Chanzo: EATV
Asante kwa kuniita huku
Cicero hongera zenu kama itatendeka, fahamu sisi ni manyangau wa kibepari na huwa hatuna majungu kwenye ushindani wa biashara. Sisi sio kama nyie Watanzania ambao huwa mnalialia kwa kila jambo. Biashara haina mambo ya undugu, ni mikakati na maslahi na ikitokea umeshindwa kimikakati basi unakubali na kuachia.
Hili la bomba ikitokea hatimaye imeishia kujengwa kupitia Tanga, basi tutawapa hongera na kufanya mengine yanayotuhusu. Lakini kwa sasa bado tupo uwanjani na mumefunga bao la kwanza na la pili, sisi kama manyang'au tutafanya yetu kimikakati, tutaibuka na mbinu nyingine hadi tumburuze Museveni kwa pua, akigoma hadi mwisho basi tunaanchia bila hard feelings.
Mojawapo wa miikakati yetu itakua ni kuanza ujenzi wa bomba lenyewe maana tayari tuna mafuta, sasa hapo tunatumia huo ujenzi kumtongoza maana ataona kazi inafanyika tayari sio zile ngonjera za Wabongo. Nyie mikakati yenu eti mnafuata mambo ya undugu kwa kumkumbushia Museveni kwamba mlimsaidia kunyakua madaraka. kazi kweli, mnapenda sana kuchanganya biashara na undugu ambapo haziendani, sasa hivi hiyo route yenu ndio inafaa kwa kweli tukipiga mahesabu, na badala kuwa wajanja mtumie huo ukweli, mnaongea mambo ya undugu wenu na Museveni.
PIPELINE DEAL PAPERS SIGNED
In Summary
•The two-country 24-inch pipeline will deliver about 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day
•The Tanzanian and Ugandan presidents first revealed the joint venture project during the Sidelines of the 17th EAC Head of state ordinary meeting.
Arusha. Tanzania and Uganda on Thursday signed crucial agreements which will pave the way for the implementation of a 1,403 kilometre oil pipeline project.
Laying of the pipeline from the oilfields in Lake Albert North West of Uganda to Tanga port and associated civil works will cost an estimated $ 12 billion, according to officials of both countries.
The 24-inch pipeline will deliver about 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Implementation of the project is slated to commence any time next year and is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Speaking after signing the documents in Arusha, the minister for Energy and Minerals, Prof. Sospeter Muhongo, said officials of the two countries had agreed that the project should start as soon as possible.
This follows consultations between experts from Tanzania and Uganda who analysed the proposed pipeline deeply.
The minister told reporters that experts had also discussed the best way the project would be implemented as well as how the people who would be relocated to pave way for the pipeline would be compensated.
However, Prof. Muhongo could not go into details on the actual route of the proposed pipeline within Tanzania, only mentioning Kagera and Singida regions as well as the port city which is within Tanga region.
Other regions which are likely to be within the route to the sea port may include Geita, Shinyanga, Simiyu and Manyara.
President Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart, Mr Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, for the first time revealed about the joint project during a media briefing session in Arusha on March 1, ahead of the East African Community (EAC) leaders’ summit.
Uganda would soon start drilling oil from Lake Albert after discovery of huge reserves of the hydrocarbons more than a decade ago.
It is believed the land-locked country wants to use the pipeline to export its oil through the Tanga port as well as supply the huge Tanzania market where no oil has been found despite the country having vast reserves of natural gas.
Apparently,the proposed pipeline has caught neighbouring Kenya by surprise because Uganda passes the bulk of its exports through the Mombasa port.
Kenyan newspapers reported recently that their government was set to revive talks with Ugandan authorities on the once mulled oil pipeline from the latter’s oilfields to various cities in Kenya.
Source: The Citizen.