|
Tanzania to host lake natron soda ash project talks
2007-07-25 09:08:04
By Abu Muse, Nairobi
A high-level stakeholders` consultative meeting is slated for early next month in Dar es Salaam, mainly to discuss conflicting ideas on the planned construction of a soda ash extraction plant on the shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania.
The meeting is expected to bring together representatives of Tata Chemicals, the Tanzanian government and environmental conservationist groups in eastern Africa.
The Lake Natron Consultative Forum, a group of East African conservationist organisations, has been locked in a war of words with Tata Chemicals over the proposed construction of the plant at Lake Natron in Tanzania.
The conservationists warn that implementation of the project would threaten flamingos into flight, making the country and the entire region lose a world-renowned tourist attraction.
Tata has submitted proposals to the government through Lake Natron Resources (Tz) Ltd to put up a factory capable of producing an annual 500,000 tonnes of soda ash.
The firm, which owns majority shares in Kenya`s Magadi Soda Company, also intends to build tarmac access roads, a pipeline to carry soda slurry across the lake and living quarters for an estimated 1,225 construction workers and 152 permanent staff.
However, as Tata and the conservationists plan to meet, it has emerged that the construction of the Lake Natron factory near Tanzania`s Lake Natron has already received an environmental impact assessment (EPA) green light despite opposition from environmental lobby groups.
The assessment was conducted by Norconsult (T) Limited and concluded that no danger had been identified that would make implementation of the project undesirable or harmful.
The study was commissioned by the Tanzanian government and Tata Chemicals, while the project is set to be funded by the International Finance Corporation.
Records by Tanzania’s National Development Corporation, a state-owned agency, show that Lake Natron brine contains at least eight per cent sodium chloride.
The brine comes from hot springs of volcanic origin and the Ol-Donyo Lengai Crater.
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.
Flamingos are a major tourist attraction in 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 Lake Natron Consultative Forum specifically claims that the multi-billion-dollar tourism industry in Kenya would be negatively affected by the move.
`The tourism industry in the central Rift Valley is largely supported by the Rift Valley lakes and the main attraction there are the flamingos, whose breeding is now
under threat,` says a statement issued by the group.
Lake Natron is designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and implementation of a project with such an impact would have to follow rules of the Ramsar Site Management Plan, the group noted further.
The Ramsar agreement requires countries to seek consensus with other states on issues affecting shared resources, which is why the group wants the Tanzanian government to withdraw its support for the project and requests donors to consider its adverse impacts.
The group has also urged the East African Community`s environmental committee to intervene in the issue.
But the Tanzanian government remains far from impressed by calls for the suppression of the Lake Natron soda ash plant project, particularly in the wake of the EPA green light.
|
