|
Developmental projects and people’s welfare
2006-08-05 09:20:15
By PASCAL SHAO
Do members of the public are involved in the implementation of a project beneficial to them? Do they have the right to claim for such involvement?
Do ordinary people know something about their basic rights and even they know do they know where to forward their complaints for action? Many of them do not know.
A helpless voice from Tarakea in Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region, is heard crying for help as the construction of the road is underway.
Somebody might think that the residents of the area do not want a good road that will help them reach to their weekly markets.
Surely they want it badly and they have been longing for such a road for a couple of decades.
The Chinese are very serious with their work as they want to finish it quickly so that they get another tender.
They also know obviously that some Tarakeans imagine a road can be constructed in a twinkle of the eye.
Since the construction started the residents of Tarakea have been covered by dust from the construction site.
One can imagine they way these people suffer as the Arabs in the Sahara desert as dust is all over the place.
The cloud of dust from the construction site seriously affected people in the area where the road under construction by the Chinese company.
But the have no where to forward their complaints, even though road is for their good. At present it makes them suffer.
Since the road is almost level vehicles pass through at a breakneck speed. This implies that other users of the road have to stop and wait until the dust settles before they continue with the journey.
The victims are pedestrians, mostly women and children.
People living along and near this road are the most affected and are likely to suffer chest and eye disease and other ailment that can be caused by dust.
During the entire phase of construction, drinking water and water for domestic use is covered with dust which is left to settle before the water can be used.
As this is not enough, indoor property is also covered with dust. People ask whether people in areas where tarmac roads were constructed experienced the same torture. To many it is a new and unbearable experience. What can they do? Nothing!
Moreover, banana, coffee plants close or distant from the road under construction are also covered with dust.
This situation has a negative impact on the crops as the dust affects their maturing process.
The dust is disturbing the people of Tarakea to such an extent that they wish they could continue with their old road.
The road constructors could sprinkle the sections under construction by water so that there is no such dust. This is not done.
My experience on any project such the construction of a building for example, there are must be an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) carried out before the project starts.
EIA is a formal study used to predict environmental consequences of a proposed project before it is implemented.
If the EIA is well conducted it can identify, predict and assess the likely consequences of development activity.
And if EIA is well done it can be a basic tool for sound assessment of development proposals to determine the potential environmental, social and health effects of a proposed development.
In general EIA is carried out in order to produce an environmental impact statement (EIS) which is composed of the project design description, location, scale and size, description of the effects, mitigation measures and a non technical summary which should be understood easily by the common man.
EIA also gives an opportunity to people to ask and give their view about the proposed project in their locality.
If there was an assessment in Tarakea residents in the area could be in a position to express their views depending on their experience.
The current situation is a clear indication that mitigating measures were not taken into consideration.
The residents of Tarakea should be saved from the dust and should not be made to suffer from diseases because of the road project.
Without doubt the project should continue but mitigation measures should also be taken as stated in the EIA report and should be implemented by the environmental control officer (ECO).
|
