The company has as well appealed to the government to put in place control mechanisms to curb theft of oil during discharge to its storage facilities which it said have caused losses amounting to 1.4bn/- between 2014 and the first quarter of 2015.
The
Board Chairman of the company, Dr Ben Moshi, made the appeal here
shortly before presenting a dummy cheque of 4.5bn/- to the Minister of
Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, as dividends to the government
for the year 2015.
“We
could have paid more dividends to state coffers if government
institutions purchased oil from the company and if there were no losses
due to the theft,” Dr Moshi remarked. During the financial year 2014
Puma Energy Tanzania paid dividends amounting to 3bn/- and the company
is optimistic of dishing out more money next year.
The
government of Tanzania controls 50 per cent stake in the company while
Puma International control the remaining 50 per cent. For his part, Dr
Mpango noted that as per directives by the government, all public
institutions should from next financial year procure goods and services
from state-owned institutions.
“I
understand Puma Energy offers quality products which have enabled it to
win global recognition through the International Standard Organisation
(ISO) and this should form a basis for public organisations to purchase
products from the firm,” he noted.
The
minister went on to praise the company for paying dividends each
financial year which play a role in improving social services. Speaking
the same event, Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals, Dr Medard
Kalemani, hailed the Puma Energy Tanzania for being run profitably and
eventually paying dividends to its shareholders, challenging the company
to increase the dividends to 6bn/- next year.
“I
have taken note of the losses caused by theft but I am sure the
state-owned Bulk Petroleum Importation Agency which started operations
in December, last year, will play a role to ensure such losses are
eradicated,” the Deputy Minister stated.
According
to the Managing Director of Puma Energy Tanzania, the company has a
storage capacity of 94 million litres, a network of 43 retail sites
across the country while it also supply jet fuel at eight major airports
in the country.
Download Video and Put Comment
Toa Maoni Hapa Chini
