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Front Page Mererani suffers ravages of AIDS60% of mining area residents are HIV positiveby Arusha Times Reporter Six out of every ten people who resides in the Mererani mining area of Simanjiro district are reported to be HIV positive. This was stated by the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Daniel Yona when he was officially opening a four-day workshop for small scale miners in Mererani last Tuesday. The minister issued the statement before more than 400 small scale miners, dealers and quarry owners at the New Manyara Inn, where the workshop had been taking place from June 1 to 4. ‘The figures that the District Commissioner for Simanjiro has given me, regarding the situation of HIV-AIDS pandemic in Mererani is shocking!" said Yona. ‘It seems that, 60 per cent of the Mererani residents are HIV positive", he added. The minister however, did not explain how such a figures were derived. The Mererani area, solely depends on the mining of Tanzanite minerals and since most miners and dealers commute to and fro, Arusha town, located about 130 kilometres from the township, it is difficult to tell exactly how many people live at Mererani. Earlier reports indicated that there are about 500 women operating as sex workers at the Mererani township. The World Vision Tanzania (WVT) recently launched a special programme aimed at "fishing" most of the women from prostitution by providing therm with an alternative income generating venture of fish trade. With plenty of money to spend whenever there are good mineral yields, most Tanzanite miners and mineral dealers are usually considered to be a good catch among local women both at Mererani and Arusha town.
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