By Ebeneza Mollel

The Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority (PURA) and the Zanzibar Petroleum Regulatory Authority (ZPRA) have established a Joint Technical Committee (JTC), a crucial step in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) entered between them.

The JTC, comprising of five (5) members from each party, was instituted through a kick-off meeting between PURA and ZPRA held on 05th August, 2022 at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre (JNICC). Gracing the meeting were the Director General of PURA, Eng. Charles Sangweni and the Managing Director of ZPRA, Mr. Adam Makame.

In their opening remarks, both Eng. Sangweni and Mr. Makame stated that the establishment of the JTC meeting between the two parties is a remarkable milestone in itself and that it is a surefire indicator that PURA and ZPRA are indubitably committed to ensuring that the MoU entered between them is successfully implemented.

"Today opens a new, exciting chapter of our cooperation between PURA and ZPRA because, through this JTC, we shall effectively and smoothly execute the MoU. I genuinely believe mutual collaboration between us will work to the advantage of our Institutions." commented Eng. Sangweni.

The kick-off meeting saw the chairman and the secretary of the JTC elected whereby Mr. Emmannuel Ngumbulu, from PURA was elected the chairman while Ms. Arafa Rashid, from ZPRA was elected secretary.

PURA and ZPRA signed an MoU on 19th February, 2022 for the sole purpose of fostering and strengthening collaboration between the institutions.