By Sophia Kessy
AFRICAN governments have been challenged to think of ordinary people when making decisions on natural resources extractions in their respective countries.
George Lugalambi, the media capacity development officer from the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) made the call yesterday in Dar es Salaam when speaking at the Strengthening Media Oversight of the Extractive Sectors 2016, training workshop.
Organized by NRGI and the Journalists' Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET), the training brought on board 24 journalists from Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.
Lugalambi said that governments need to put national interests and people's interests at heart when making decisions on the natural resource decision chain rather than what they are personally going to get out of the projects.
"The government is the key player in making decisions when it comes to natural resources exploration and extraction such as gas, oil and mining, but it's important for any government to make a good deal or decision for the benefit of the country," he said, noting that companies are interested in profit, "while the government should ensure that public interest is met."
"And if the government extracts it has to make a decision of a good deal, and not money, government should think on how people at the grassroots level will benefit out of the contract they are signing in," Lugalambi added.
No comments:
Post a Comment