SafariLands.org: Environment: Meeting rejects L. Natron ash scheme

In an unprecedented move, the stakeholders, who gathered in Dar es Salaam yesterday at a public forum organized by the National Environmental Management Council to give their views regarding the project, unanimously faulted a presentation made by a government representative.

The representative, who was trying to convince them on the advantage of the scheme, was booed by the audience who said he was less informed and "unprepared" to lecture them.

Jema Mkwale from the Danish Embassy in Dar es Salaam said that the presentation didn't give enough details to show the advantages and disadvantages of the project.

"The plan will benefit the investors but the people around the place will riot benefit anything from it and worse, still their health would be in danger," she said.

Mkwale said the Maasai people who live near the lake are the ones who would be affected by the project, adding: "I am sure the Maasai people would not even be employed in the project as the investor is likely to bring his own staff."

Muosiya Mwinzi from Kenya said the government had to work on the proposed project carefully before involving the public first as this would be the only way to solve the matter.

"Tanzania government has not yet convinced us on the advantage of the project. It needs to work on the proposal carefully," Mwinzi said.

The Chairman of Engaredo, a village near Lake Natron, Christopher Ndunwali said the lake had been a tourists' centre and had benefited both the government and the people living around the area.

"My village is against, the project because we will not benefit anything. The undertaking will only profit the investor and the government," he said.

The chairman for Journalist Environmental Association of Tanzania Deodatus Mfugale said the project would pollute the environment and destroy the ecosystem.

He said that Lake Natron was a bird life area where 75 percent of birds from Tanzania, Kenya. Uganda, Ethiopia and Djibouti were nested.

"We are against the project because it will affect the lives of the birds, especially flamingoes. They may end up vacating from the area completely and yet it is a tourists' attraction," he said.

NEMC Director Anna Maembe said before they accepted any proposal, they first had to visit the place and compare the negative and positive side effects of the proposed project.

"We decided to collect public views and see what they had in mind so that we could ascertain if the project would have a positive effect on the people," she said.

Tata Chemicals has submitted proposals to the government through Lake Natron Resources (Tz) Ltd to put up a factory capable of producing an annual 500,000 tones of soda ash.

The conservationists have however, warned that implementation of the project would threaten flamingoes into flight, making the country and the entire region loses a world-renowned tourist attraction.

The lake, which touches the border with Kenya and lies 40 kilometres from Magadi, is a significant breeding site for the Lesser Flamingo - a species forming the majority of the world's flamingo population.

The Lesser Flamingo is listed in the 2006 World Conservation Union (IUCN) red list of threatened species, and hence the fear by some conservationists that the construction of the plant would adversely impact on Tanzania's tourism industry and the environment in the three East African countries.

There are also fears that the Lesser Flamingo, which accounts for 75 per cent of the world flamingo population, would face extinction since the lake is its only remaining significant breeding point.

Flamingoes are a major tourist attraction in both Kenya and Tanzania and contribute substantially to the two countries" fast-growing ecotourism sector.

Experts say the birds are very sensitive during breeding and can abandon their eggs or chicks in case of any disturbance.

The Guardian - Thursday, January 24, 2008