Tanzania's president ordered the military on Wednesday to build walls around its tanzanite mines and directed the central bank to buy the precious stone to boost reserves.
He ordered the military to build walls with security cameras and checkpoints around all tanzanite mining concessions in northern Tanzania to control illegal mining and trading activities, the presidency statement said.
"Even if someone swallows some tanzanite gemstones, they will be detected at the proposed checkpoint," Magufuli said.
President John Magufuli's government accuses mining firms of cheating Tanzania out of its fair share of mineral wealth through tax dodging and smuggling, allegations they deny.
"Tanzania gets just 5 percent of revenues from the global tanzanite trade - all the rest of this precious gemstone benefits other people abroad. This is unacceptable."
Comments
Post a Comment