Free gas for households in Zanzibar

IN efforts to control deforestation and promote environment conservation in the islands, authorities in Zanzibar today announced free gas to all Zanzibar households that would abandon using wood fuel and switch to utilization of gas for household heating. Dr Bakar Aseid, a director in the Department of Commercial Crops, Fruits, and Forestry, told a press conference that there was enough funds to pay for the gas for households that abandon the use of firewood and charcoal for cooking. "We appeal to all Zanzibaris to find alternative energy to save the environment," he said. Dr Aseid said that the free gas would be available from April this year under a project that aims at conserving forests. "Only people who accept to change will get the free gas starter kit," he said. The director said that about 526,000 US dollars was already available for the four-year project run by his department in collaboration with Oryx gas Limited and Salama gas Limited of Zanzibar. The initiative is also supported by members of the business community and development partners. "A household that buys a gas accessories package for a 38 kilos, 15 kilos or six kilos gas cylinders will be entitled to get starter gas equivalent to the purchased package. The cost of package (including gas to be paid by the project) is about 303,000/-; 193,000/-, and 92,000/- respectively," said Dr Aseid. He said that although there was a drop in the use of forest products since 2000 due to increased awareness, it was still important for Zanzibaris to unite in conserving the environment to avoid future negative impact of climate change. According to the 2007 study on energy balance, he said, 95 per cent of Zanzibaris use bio fuels, three per cent use petroleum products and two per cent use electricity from the national grid. "The scale of deforestation remains worrisome! While in the eastern areas of Zanzibar people destroy forest for fuel wood, in the western areas people fell trees because of expanding construction," the director said. Putting more emphasis on the environment conservation, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, and Environment, Mr Burhan Sadat Haji, also said at the conference that Zanzibar would be at risk of 'great' erosion in the near future if the current cutting down of trees remained unchecked.