Rai hiyo imetolewa na Katibu Tawala Mkoa wa Iringa, Gertrude Mpaka katika hotuba yake ya ufunguzi wa warsha ya kuandaa mpango wa uwekezaji katika mradi wa kuimarisha minyororo ya thamani kwa mazao ya Alizeti na Nyanya iliyofanyika katika ukumbi wa chuo cha ufundi stadi (VETA).
Mpaka amesema “Iringa lazima tuwe wa kwanza kwa mafanikio kati ya mikoa sita inayotekeleza mradi wa MUVI”. Ameitaja mikoa inayotekeleza mradi wa MUVI kuwa ni Ruvuma, Pwani, Tanga, Manyara, Mwanza na Iringa yenyewe. Ameongeza kuwa ili kufanikiwa lengo hilo la kuwa wa kwanza kimafanikio lazima wadau wote wanaohusika na utekelezaji wa mradi huo kufanya kazi kama timu moja.
Katibu Tawala huyo wa Mkoa amesema kuwa upande wa serikali ya mkoa itahakikisha inatoa mchango na usimamizi wote unaohitajika kama ilivyo kawaida ya mkoa kuwa karibu na kushirikiana na wadau wake wa maendeleo. Aidha amewataka wakurugenzi na wadau wote kuhakikisha kuwa mradi wa MUVI unaoanishwa na mipango ya wilaya kama DADPs kadri itakavyowezekana kuanzia mwaka wa fedha 2011/2012.
Aidha amewataka wakulima kutambua kuwa wao ndio walengwa wakuu wa mradi hivyo wazaleshe kibiashara ili waweze kujikomboa kiuchumi. Amesisitiza kuwa mradi hauji kugawa fedha bali ni kuwajengea uwezo kiutaalamu na kuwaunganisha pamoja ili kuangalia maslahi yao kwa upana zaidi.
Ametumia warsha hiyo kuwaomba washiriki wote kushiriki kikamilifu na kuibua masuala yote ya msingi na kuyatengenezea mkakati, rasilimali na muda wa utekelezaji.
Kwa mujibu wa taarifa za maendeleo ya kilimo ya mkoa na FAO mkoa wa Iringa unazalisha zaidi ya asilimia 70% ya nyanya zinazozalishwa nchini Tanzania. Mkoa pia unaviwanda viwili vikubwa vya kusindika nyanya vyenye uwezo wa kusindika tani 15 kwa siku. Mkoa wa Iringa unazalisha zaidi ya tani 18,000 za mbegu za alizeti kwa mwaka.
Warsha hiyo imeandaliwa na SIDO na MUVI na imewaleta pamoja wadau muhimu ili kuamua kwa pamoja ufanisi wa minyororo ya mazao ya alizeti na nyanya mkoani Iringa.
FAMILIES MOURN AS DEATH TOLL CLIMBS IN GUATEMALALANDCLIDES
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 7, 2010 7:40 a.m.
Relatives of missing people wait Sunday in Solola, west of Guatemala City, near the site of a recent landslide.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• One family mourns four dead
• The president declares three days of national mourning
• Emergency officials report 44 dead, 56 injured and 16 missing
• About 11,500 people have been evacuated and 9,000 are living in shelters
Nahuala, Guatemala (CNN) -- Officials say about 40 people were buried in two landslides here. Four of them were Carlos Coti's family members.
"They left behind 20 orphans, because each one had four, five or six children they left behind," he said.
The first landslide knocked a number of vehicles and a bus off the road. When nearby residents rushed to the scene to help, a second mudslide crashed down on the same spot, the nation's disaster agency said.
Constant rains have forced rescue crews to stop and restart their searches for the missing, as anxious family members look on.
Disaster officials report that torrential rains and landslides have left at least 44 dead, 56 injured and 16 missing. On Monday, President Alvaro Colom declared three days of national mourning.
Video: Mudslides cause havoc in Guatemala
"The firefighters and rescue teams are working with the government's equipment so that we can come out of this human tragedy," Colom said as he visited one landslide site.
Around 11,500 residents have been evacuated and 9,000 have taken refuge in shelters, the nation's disaster agency said. More than 43,000 people are at risk from the punishing rain, said to be the strongest in 60 years.
Over the weekend, authorities closed parts of the Inter-American Highway after rains washed out sections of the road and caused at least two accidents.
Thousands of homes, in addition to infrastructure and fields of crops, also were damaged by the heavy rains.
The torrential downpours come several months after more than 150 people died when Tropical Storm Agatha hit Guatemala in May.
Destruction from that storm was widespread throughout the nation, with mudslides destroying homes and buildings and burying some victims. At least nine rivers had dramatically higher levels and 13 bridges collapsed, Guatemala's emergency services agency said.
The May downpours created a sinkhole the size of a street intersection in northern Guatemala City. Residents told CNN that a three-story building and a house fell into the hole.
Journalist Alexia Rios Hayashi contributed to this report.
