(DAILY MAIL) ERB to licence, regulate bio-fuel producers
ERB to licence, regulate bio-fuel producersBy PATSON PHIRI and MARTIN KAPENDE
MINISTER of Energy and Water Development, Kenneth Konga, has signed a Statutory Instrument that will enable the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) to licence and regulate bio-fuel producers in the hope of stablising the security of the economy amid continued rises in international fuel prices.
Government is now pinning its hopes on the recently adopted bio-fuels policy to beat the ever rising prices of fuel on the back of continued rises in prices of crude oil on the international market.
Mr Konga announced this in Solwezi when he addressed Lusaka-based journalists currently in North-Western Province to explore small-scale enterprises.
He said a programme to scale up information flow on the sub-sector had been launched and that workshops would be held in due course.
Mr Konga feared that the continued rise in the prices of fuel would affect the economy negatively.
The announcement comes barely days after the ERB increased the pump price of fuel by around seven per cent on average.
He said crude oil prices had gone up by about US$30 within the last six months on the international market.
Mr Konga said government had since asked farmers with a passion for jatropha and other bio-fuel crops to send data to the Ministry of Energy which is compiling a data base for planning purposes.
He said the data base was not meant to victimise investors in the bio-fuel industry but a commitment by government to work with the private partners in the promotion of bio-fuels.
The Ministry of Energy had already sent a request to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry asking for incentives for the bio-fuel production.
Cabinet adopted the bio-fuel policy in November last year.
Business Development Services, an International Labour Organisation project has done two studies on Jatropha and Diary sector which found the two have high potential for value chain addition and could significantly enhance income generation and poverty reduction among small scale farmers.
BDS Chief Technical Advisor Tapera Muzira told Mr Konga that his project had been working with the Bio-Fuels Association of Zambia to promote the production of good variety Jatropha crops and dairy farming.
He pledged to make the literature on the sub-sector available to the ministry.
Labels: BIOFUELS, ERB, KENNETH KONGA
posted by MrK @ 7:06 PM
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