DAR ES SALAAM: PRIME Minister Mwigulu Nchemba has launched a new digital system for monitoring environment pollution called the Tanzania Online Continuous Emission Monitoring System (TOCEMS) of the National Environment Management Council (NEMC).
He launched the system yesterday, May 28, 2026, in Dar es Salaam when he was the guest of honour at the 40th anniversary celebrations since the establishment of the council in 1986.
The celebrations, which were accompanied by an exhibition on environment issues, involved various government guests and private sector stakeholders involved in environment conservation.
PM Nchemba commended NEMC for the great work they have done in their 40 years of environment conservation, emphasizing that without a clean environment, humans and other species are at great risk of extinction.
He said the task of fighting environment polluters is not easy and that is why he will personally stand firm to ensure that NEMC becomes an authority so that it get the strength to fight environment polluters.
In addition, he commended President Samia Suluhu Hassan for being the number one environmentalist, which led to her being awarded as a world environment leader for championing environment conservation in the country.
“The number one environmentalist, President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, has told me to say here that she recognizes your contribution and will continue to work with all of us in environment protection. The President has been at the forefront of protecting the environment and has promised to continue to be at the forefront,” said the PM.
He said that although some people take the issue of the environment lightly, country have begun to see the effects of environment degradation evident in various parts of the country.
“In the past, we saw it as just a myth, but now the consequences of neglecting the environment have begun to come to us. This is not a theory and is not to be taken lightly at all, and human activities have increased rapidly, which is endangering the environment,” he said.
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“People just decide to cut down trees that sometimes they don’t need after that. You cut down trees, you cause deserts, we lack water, there is no rain and competition for land use is increasing due to increasing economic and human activities, so we must accept change, we cannot go with the same lifestyle,” said the Prime Minister and added
“If we do not accept change, we will be forced by what happens later and since NEMC is supposed to be an authority, I will stand firm to be an authority, its process will go through the Working Council now there I am the Chairperson and I promise you I will stand firm so that NEMC become an authority,” he said
In addition, Dr Nchemba said President Samia has increased the agricultural budget more than 5 times to facilitate irrigation agriculture to eliminate the practice of farmers clearing forests and destroying the environment when they expand their farms.
“NEMC needs to be strengthened to increase efficiency in environment management and in the next 30 years it is estimated that Tanzanians will reach 100 million and more, therefore NEMC must be strong to cope with the increase in human activities that are damaging the environment,” he said
“Despite the achievements we have made, there is still a lot of work to do in the next 40 years. NEMC, continue to provide environment education starting at the family level so that people know the importance of caring for the environment,” he said