By Gadiosa Lamtey, THE GUARDIAN, TANZANIA.
1st July 2011
Minister for Natural Resourses and Tourism Ezekiel Maige
The World Heritage Centre (WHC) committee has permitted Tanzania to start exploring uranium in Selous Game Reserve, after the country has met two referral conditions she had been required earlier to fulfill.
According to Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Ezekiel Maige, the government had been required to work on the two conditions within a period of one year to allow a report to be submitted in the 36th WHC conference.
Making the revelation on the WHC decision reached in France late last month to journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the minister said Tanzania had first been asked to conduct Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) indicating possible effects that might occur and work out strategies to minimise their impacts.
In the second condition a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) team was required to visit the project site and work together with government officials in preparing a mining plan and strategies to minimise environmental impacts.
The first condition ESIA submitted to the centre was incomplete because it was not approved by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) and it showed that it could take long time to discover some of the effects and might not be easy to know their magnitudes.
“Under the permit, other activities relating to commencement of mining can continue while the two conditions were being worked on and submitted to the 36th WHC conference,” the minister.
During the conference, the government took the opportunity to endorse the 1972 International Agreement on Biodiversity Conservation and Protection.
Under the agreement, the minister said, areas that have unique heritage will be recognised and listed in World Heritage Sites under Unesco. According to the agreement, exploration projects are not allowed in the game reserve, he added.
However, given the importance of uranium mining to Tanzania, the government submitted a requested to have the boundaries of Selous Game Reserve changed, and have its 34,532 ha reduced to pave way for the project, he said.
“The centre gave us conditions although Tanzania is our land because of the agreement the government signed which prohibits exploration activities at WHS. The project however is important for the community and government because 78 per cent of the mineral products will remain in the country and create employment,” he said.
Commenting on national conservation in the country, he said WHC received the country report but was somewhat pessimistic about conservation of Serengeti National Park (senapa)—specifically on the proposed road project.
At the meeting, the government explained its stance that the Serengeti road project will not be constructed at tarmac level, (the tarmac will end at Loliondo on the eastern side, leaving 123 kilometers which will be under Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa), he said.
On Wednesday Tanzania and Uganda signed a multi-billion-shilling railway construction project to run from Tanga via Arusha to Musoma which authorities said would steer clear of the much contested Serengeti National Park stretch by 100 kilometers to preserve the ecosystem.
According to Transport minister Omar Nundu, the project will consider concerns by Tanzanians and the international community over the need to preserve Serengeti National Park’s ecosystem.
The plan to steer clear of the particular stretch follows reports by the international media that the government has dropped plans to build a highway through the world-famous park.
The reports also suggest that the government has informed Unesco’s World Heritage Committee that it would continue with its plans to build the proposed Arusha-Musoma highway but without touching the 53km stretch through the National Park.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments:
Post a Comment