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Third World countries. The role of the Netherlands Embassy in trying to
protect the interests of the Dutch company that managed MECCO is cited
below.

The case studies which follow draw heavily on a number of unsigned articles
which appeared in the Tanzanian English press in December 1970 and
January 1971. Some readers might question the authority which can be given
to unsighed articles. In another to this it can be said:

(i) that the articles were written in a very authoritative vein (one was called

“Sunday News Insight”) and were never denied by the companies con-
cerned. Other unsigned articles have been attacked for innaccuracy. These
were never so attacked. It is therefore reasonable to assume that they are
substantially true.

(ii) where-ever possible details were checked by the present writer and found

to be substantially true. In this connection the help of Jill Wells and Fred

Bienefeld and the management of MECCO itself acknowledged.
The MECCO articles appeared under the heading ‘MECCO:The Myth of
Management’. The Standard, 26,27,28, January 1971
The article of 26 January quotes the case of ‘a young engineer who had been
working with MECCO for about eight months after returning from England
with a degree’ who ‘was so discouraged . . . that he reluctantly applied for a
post with firm of engineers in Liverpool and left.’ Also: ‘a quite brilliant
young draftsman’ who ‘could see no prospects in staying with MECCO and
left to take up a post in private practice’, and another draftsman who moved
to a Government ministry.
Williamson’s diamond mine provided N.D.C. with approximately 20 million
shillings per year between 1967 and 1970. This was used in part to cover
mounting head office expenditure (15 million shillings in 1970) and in part to
cover losses in subsidiaries. For example the 1970 accounts show ac-
cumulated losses in the period of 44 million shillings from just six companies
(TANCUT, Mwanza Textile, Bukoba Instant Coffee, Tegry Plastics, Friend-
ship Textile Mill and Tanzania Tanneries). The General Manager has several
times defended these losses. See for example the interview with George
Kahama in the Sunday News, 20 February 1972.
‘Revise Dockers’ pay, says NUTA’. The Standard, 8 October 1970. This issue
of decasualisation is discussed at length by Fred Bienefeld on pages of this
book. Unless the whole building industry was planned and co-ordinated cen-
trally it is hard to see how it could be implemented without causing con-
siderable expenses to MECCO.
‘All MECCO Shares Taken Over’, The Standard, 12 December 1970
See Press Release of 11 December 1970, and ‘Ruaha Blasts Off The Stan-
dard, 24 December 1971. The Kidatu Project is a 200 Megawatt hydro
scheme 240 k.m. from Dar es Salaam which will cost in total 500 million
shillings. The 235 million shilling contract for the main civil works was won
by a consortium of Stirling Astaldi (Coast), Skanska, Sentab (both Swedish

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