Tanga Cement Company should use coal from Kiwira in Mbeya instead of importing the material from South Africa, Tanga Regional Commissioner, Mohamed Abdulaziz said on Wednesday.

Abdulaziz made the suggestion when he toured the company’s factory here. Addressing the firm’s senior officials, he said it would be more prudent to use locally available coal rather than import the material.

’’The company can save a lot of money if it uses locally available coal� this will also go a long way to improve the economy of the country, a lot of job opportunities will be created in Kiwira and Mchuchuma,’’ he said. He added the two suburbs have a lot of coal.

During the tour, the RC visited a quarry, which would continue to supply lime to the factory for the next 100 years. He also inspected a new kiln that uses coal instead of industrial diesel.

Earlier, Tanga Cement Executive Director, Juerg Fluehman told the RC the factory was facing transport problems as the railway line between Tanga, Dar es Salaam and Arusha was dilapidated.

’’The line makes distribution difficult. We are also faced with the hiccup of unreliable electricity supply, which hampers smooth production of cement,’’ he said.