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Kikwete sees Mwandosya’s ability in environmental preservation
2006-01-10 08:00:15
By Patrick Kisembo
In his bid to bring to an end the destruction of the environment, President Jakaya Kikwete has appointed former Minister of Communications and Transport, Prof. Mark Mwandosya as the new Minister of State in the Vice President’s office responsible for the Environment.
The President said he was treating the question of the war on environmental degradation with utmost importance as it is among the major sensitive areas if the country wants to prosper in its efforts to standardize economic development.
In his remarks, Kikwete mentioned that Prof Mwandosya was the right choice for this portfolio.
Said he:’They use him a lot in the environment dealings worldwide, we need to use him here to assist us in this same area as we have faced a lot of problems in it.’
Tanzania has recently suffered setbacks in her efforts to manage the environment, especially on the issues of the misuse of forestry products like timber, firewood and charcoal.
Poor husbandry, cultivation along riverbanks, drying up of rivers, mindless livestock grazing as well as poor management of the country’s natural vegetations are among things that contribute to the destruction of the environment.
President Kikwete was recently quoted as saying that human activities have to a large extent contributed to deforestation and environmental degradation.
Tonnes of charcoal are sold especially in towns and cities, as people could not afford electricity for cooking because of low incomes.
Likewise in villages, the majority of people depend on firewood thereby necessitating the felling of indigenous trees and leave the land desolate tract.
Alternatives have not been in use to assist restoring the lost forests and bushes.
Responding to a question regarding Tanzania Electrical Supply Company TANESCO’s move to increase charges and the low level of water in Mtera dam to produce more hydro-electric power, which force people to turn on using forestry fuel sources, Kikwete said he has to get used to the office before he could offer a concrete answer to the problem.
’As a president it is not fair to give a straight answer without a research on the problem. I will sit with people and discuss with them because whatever I speak could either build or destroy,’ he said.
He added that he was aware that if electricity is insufficient people may increase the use of forestry products particularly charcoal and wood for fuels, the situation that is an obstacle to the protection of the environment.
Said he: ’In the old days Tanzania looked very beautiful, but now people are cutting down trees and forests faster and it seems we are becoming mindless to the detrimental consequences.’
He said the appointment of Mwandosya, who was among the three CCM aspirants vying for CCM’s nomination for the presidency last year ’brings some hope that he will manage his environment portfolio in the manner the people expect him to perform.’
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