Hi Mary,

I wanted to give you a technical update and get your advice.

We have an issue with the six 5000L SIM tanks. We can’t get any transport company or even Cement trucks to agree to transport them to Kondoa before May or June because of the rainy season.

In addition to this, Moshi met with Mr Bago from the Tanzanian water department who has been consulting on this project since 2006 and also just had a meeting with the Cheku village elders and water committee and all parties were concerned that the plastic tanks might not be a long term solution and would be used for bow and arrow target shooting.

Mr Bago suggested a reputable concrete tank builder that has built water reservoirs in the region that have been in operation for up to 15 years without issues. Moshi has been in contact with this company and they are able to build 2 X 20,000 litre concrete reservoirs for a little less than the SIM tanks cost. Our installer Clive from Power Providers has agreed that this is the best course of action given all the variables involved.

I know we have to get any changes approved from you in writing so I’m wondering how you want to handle this.

– The original budget had these line items for the SIM tanks:
6 Tanks X 5000L Sim Tank
$3,894.00
Haulage Transport of 6 tanks to Kondoa
$1,770.00
Haulage Transport of tanks from Kondoa to Cheku
$900.00
Total: $6564.00

– The concrete tank construction quote is for $5485.00 for a savings of $1079.00

– In the end we still end up with water containers but now made of concrete instead of plastic, we get more storage capacity and save a bit of money. The container build is employing more local labour and the reservoir is expected to last at least several decades – all improvements over the previous plan.

Because of the time constraints of the end of fiscal and because Moshi is gathering invoices to deliver to you next week, Moshi went ahead and started working with the reservoir installer due to our insistence that this project has to be complete by March 31.

On an accounting note, all payments are being made in Tanzanian shillings so we’re loosing a bit in exchange rates because our quotes were in dollars. As in all projects there might be some unexpected expenses during the installation so should we wait until the install is done – estimated date March 26 for the pump and March 31 for the tanks and see if the we might need the $1079?

All in all I think the accounting should work out pretty close but we’ll have to confirm once Moshi brings you the invoices and sends us a scan.

Let us know how you want to proceed.

Lara