The government has been urged verify the legality of acts of hunting companies to sublet their blocks to uranium exploring companies in order to save the foreign currency lost in the dubious deals.

Speaking to this paper in Dar es Salaam at the weekend some tourism stakeholders said the nation has been loosing millions of money through dubious deals in the hunting industry.
Salum Mwamba, who is a stakeholder in tourism, said a number of dishonest hunting companies have been doing their businesses contrary to the law.

“Recently we heard the Kawe Legislator Halima Mdee as revealing the scam involving two uranium exploring firms and a hunting firm,” he said.
They are said to have entered into a fraudulent contract apparently facilitating the subletting of hunting blocks contrary to the country’s law and regulations.
Mwamba said, the government should investigate the matter to establish its legality and take stern measures against the culprits.

For his part, Kelvin Kilasara, challenged the hunting firms to increase the support given to the communities living around game reserves, saying what they give is seen as mere pittance.
He said most of the support provided by the hunting firms in game reserve is too small as compared to what the companies get in from their businesses.

He said recently he heard that three companies contributed only 45m/- to help support Mbarang’andu Wildlife Management Area in the Selous Game Reserve.
However, he was skeptical whether the money donated for development activities reaches the targeted people.
One wonders further whether it is true that the other huge sums reported to have been given to the communities actually reaches them.

Tabling the alternative budget estimates in Parliament recently, the Shadow Minister for Lands, Housing and Human settlement Development, Halima Mdee, alleged that Game Frontiers of Tanzania Limited, subleased Mbarang’andu village in Namtumbo, Ruvuma Region, thus benefiting a big chunk of USD6m that was paid in two phases.

“I have gone through the Wildlife Conversation Act of 1974 and The Wildlife Conservation Act Number 5 of 2009. These Acts allow a person with a hunting permit to only carry hunting activities and not otherwise…,” she had said.
She added that in accordance to the 1999 Land laws if a piece of land allocated for some purposes and then later be found to have minerals, ownership returns to the government and not the individual.