Politics And The Environment
Serengeti must not die or must it
(eTN) - Stroking top politicians’ egos is a favorite pastime of sycophants in the run up to any election, but Tanzania is taking it to a completely new level now by stubbornly sticking to a road project right across the Northern Serengeti, in spite of having a much more feasible route around the southern end of the national park, which would serve substantially more people but is being dismissed, as the boss had spoken on it and pronounced his verdict, in the face of competent advice and a firestorm of negative publicity now unfolding across the globe.
The full extent of his relentless march towards this highway is only becoming clear, when information so far not published in the public domain is considered.
A recent meeting between leading tourism association, TATO, and consultants working for the road project lent credibility to allegations that governmental organizations have been muzzled, while even the consultants themselves showed little interest in the stakeholder discussions and consultations when one of two teams did not even show up, later claiming to have missed their flight.
TANAPA was apparently not permitted to participate in the stakeholder consultations and remained AWOL, as did other bodies under governmental control. Yet it is these very consultants which are responsible to prepare the road design and formulate an Environmental Impact Assessment with emphasis on the social component and impact of these plans.
It is the latter which makes their attitude ever more intriguing as the alternate southern route reaches probably in excess of 2 million more people while tapping into a rich agricultural area with presently little access to key markets, denying the farmers there an opportunity to turn their lives around by starting to earn some real money, could their produce only reach places like Arusha, Mwanza, or beyond.
A further dead giveaway for the allegation that the consultants had made up their mind already in favor of their political paymasters was that they gave the assembled tourism stakeholder a full 7 days, yes seven whole days, to produce detailed scientific data in support of their claims, with one of them being overheard to have stated "the FZS document is based on hearsay, politicized and of no consequence," yet it is the Frankfurt Zoological Society with the longest research programs and data at hand and, therefore, without argument in the mind of many, though not apparently in the mind of some of the consultants’ staff, the most competent body to offer empirical data, gathered over decades and presented in a format which in any other forum would stand scrutiny of other experts.
It also emerged that sections of the road, namely the western part of it, were already sanctioned several years ago without any apparent involvement of stakeholders from the tourism and conservation fraternities, making the process of the present ongoing consultations a mere window dressing if not a face altogether.
Giving a 7-day deadline before they were to report back in full to their masters, the consultants made a mockery out of the process of public hearing, the filing of objections, and a process of reviews on such objections, and counterproposals like the southern route, and exposes the system in Tanzania for what it is: "Once the boss has spoken and given his directives, all other views and voices must fall silent, voluntarily or else be made to fall silent by other means" to achieve the declared objectives, in this case the proposed highway.
The projected decrease in the number of wildebeest, zebras, and other species, contained in the published study by the Frankfurt Zoological Society’ paints a stark picture on the proverbial wall and to dismiss it out of a false sense of political loyalty or political sycophancy is just one more reminder how far the founding fathers’ principals and ideals are now being shoved aside and trampled upon for the sake of short-sighted and questionable projects ultimately not beneficial to the majority of the people of Tanzania.
No one is suggesting – as has the pro-project propaganda tried to portray – that those people should not have a road, and they would be condemned to eternal poverty by foreigners; to the contrary, the southern route would give access to over 2 million more people and still link the very communities to the rest of the country. But that is clearly not how leading politicians feel, as allegations over campaign funding by the key beneficiaries of this road routing keep lingering and those concerned have at no time been dispelled to disproven.
The anti northern route highway coalition is now embarked on lobbying such institutions as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, European financial institutions, and their respective home governments in America, Europe, and the rest of the world to lean on the Tanzanian government to halt any decision in favor of the presently proposed routing until a fundamental new review has been conducted by independent consultants free of the pressures by their paymasters, while at the same time re-opening the discussion about the southern route in earnest.
Comments
I'm a Tanzanian born in Wasso village just close to Loliondo village in Ngorongoro and I still see this is completely DISASTER. The animals have been making this annual migration for thousands of years, it is a matter of survival for them. Man can drive around the Serengeti and don't disturb them. My ancestors have been living in the Serengeti and around Serengeti for hundreds of years and they don't want the Serengeti Highways. Humans don't care about the wildlife or the natural habitats, they ONLY care about progress for themselves. Man has now become one of the most destructive devices ever known strictly for the speed & comfort of himself. Man has bulldozed his way through pristine forest, deserts, mountains to serve his destructive wants with the car, trucks, buses & motorcycles.
Our government only think about short term gain (corruption & cash) and forget the long term investment (conservation, tourism, water resources, etc) and that's why our beautiful Tanzania is going down the pan.
Please.. Please... DON'T build the Serengeti Highways. Try to evaluate and analyse what is going to happen after 10yrs in the Serengeti area, we Africans need to know and understand that this is our future livelihood for future generations. And when this Highway is done, we're done too and our eco system will remain history.
The facts I have been reading from foreign writers about this controversial road – Mto wa Mbu across The Serengeti National Park are full of hearsays, rumors, personal business interests and lacking authenticity. They know very little about Serengeti ecosystem other than reading magazines and the internet.
Tanzanian President has the right to serve his people living in that area by giving them an access to Lake Victoria Zone. If the people of Tanzania find the road project not viable, they have the right to oppose it through the Parliament. Serengeti is just a part of Tanzania with local leaders – civic leaders, parliamentarians and legal experts.
I am a popular visitor to Serengeti and Ngorongoro, other than having been working there for more than 25 years. Opponents of this road are NOT TANZANIANS ! They are foreigners who will lose business as well as a section of foreign conservation organizations which could lose their influence in the Serengeti.
In real fact, this road will save Ngorongoro and Serengeti and boost tourism in Northern Tanzania. Most important is how Tanzania National Parks would control this 50-kilometer stretch inside the Park (not tarmac) and control the Park gates during few months of migration, with big penalties to reckless drivers. TANZANIANS NEED THE ROAD !
ELISHA, M
Criminal and shortsighted. Posted on my FB page and e-mailed out to network. Thanks for the update, Wolfgang.
Dear sirs,
this explains a lot more now again. We hope that the Mr. Apolinaris T. is reading this also and can learn from it and reform because if he does not we know he is one of them.
Yours faithfully
Mukasa Fred M.
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