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Starting a fight that you can`t win
2008-01-24 09:10:30
By Deo Mfugale
Meshack got us into trouble that Friday. He wasn`t drunk; of course he had taken a few bottles of beer, but some how it didn`t get into his head.
I had experienced the same problem- drinking a reasonable amount of beer without getting drunk.
By 4.00pm I was quite exhausted and I was ready to leave, yet I couldn`t. I had a few things to do before I could sign off, some work that was left pending because I had something else to do.
Earlier in the day I had met my colleagues from the environment fraternity and something had rocked our nerves.
The government had `boasted` that it would go ahead with the soda extraction at Lake Natron despite protest from local and international environmental groups, ourselves included. And the protest was not for nothing.
Lake Natron is the only significant breeding site for Lesser Flamingos in Eastern Africa accounting for 75 per cent of the global Lesser Flamingo population.
It is also an important Bird Life under Birdlife Classification and a Ramsar Site under the Ramsar Convention.
Undertaking the project to extract the soda ash will not only lead to loss of biodiversity, but it will also have negative effects on the eco-tourism sector and since the Lake is a component of a large ecosystem the project will disturb the breeding grounds of the endangered Lesser Flamingo.
The government`s argument was simple:`` We need the money and If the environmentalists want us to halt the project then let them compensate us,`` the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Prof Jumanne Magembe had said at a press conference.
``I think the Minister is a bit arrogant. I don\'t remember when the government was compensated in order to abandon a project that was a threat to the environment,`` one of my colleagues had said.
Fred, for that is his name, explained that it was important for the government to think of earning more revenue from its natural resources and helping communities to alleviate poverty but that was not the only way out.
He cited the abundant resource in the area in terms of cultural tourism and eco-tourism which he said only need to be promoted to help communities lift themselves out of poverty and raise the quality of their lives.
``The problem, I think, is that we are not aggressive in identifying alternative sources of income. Someone comes up and tells us:` look, here is how you can get easy money and alleviate poverty among your people,` and we immediately go for it without having second thoughts about it,`` he said.
He gave the example of communities adjacent to Lake Natron on the Kenyan side who have organized themselves and are earning a decent living through cultural tourism.
On this side 13 Maasai groups have joined forces to make a land use management plan for the whole area which extends for 18,000 hectares.
The groups are responsible for the administration of the area and they have also set aside land for nature conservation and eco-tourism.
So is it just about helping people to organize themselves and they can get a decent income without affecting the ecosystem.
Talk about raising government revenue, ecotourism in the southern end of Lake Natron already generates 500,000 US dollars and it is a rapidly growing industry that relies on the pristine environment of the Lake to give ecotourists a `` wilderness`` experience.
The earnings are set to increase if the government makes efforts to promote and market the ecotourism potential in the area.
The recent volcano eruption on mount Oldonyo Lengay which is close to Lake Natron should be an added advantage as far as tourism is concerned.
``So you see; the government has only to do a little bit of effort to find an alternative source of revenue,`` Fred stressed.
But experts have also raised fears about the project causing environmental degradation and affecting the whole ecosystem of the lakes on the Rift Valley.
``The lake is not an isolated water body; it is part of an ecosystem that runs from Lake Manyara National Park to Southern Rift Valley in Kenya, an area which is famous as a habitat for the Lesser Flamingo.
This is something the government should consider- it is not proper to tamper with the Ramsar Site which the government itself had designated,\" explained John, another colleague.
He said that sometimes countries have to forsake their interest for money for the sake of conserving the environment particularly in a case like this where any significant human activity on the Lake would have telling effects beyond our borders, including Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
The company which is undertaking the project, TATA Chemicals, has been undertaking a similar project at Lake Mgadi in Kenya.
However the environmental condition of the lake is different from that of Lake Natron and Lesser Flamingos do not breed on the lake, although a few of the birds feed in the water body particularly in the areas where there is no soda ash extraction.
Nevertheless there are reports that the number of Flamingos inhabiting Lake Magadi has dwindled since extraction of soda ash started.
``So what should we do now that the government is set to go ahead with the project?`` I asked my colleagues.
``The usual thing that we have always done; keep telling them that the project is wrong, it is against the principles of environmental conservation and at the end of the day it is not the communities who will benefit from the project but a few well-placed fellows,`` Fred said.
It was a long discussion and by the time we were through with it, I was mentally exhausted.
So that evening when Meshack suggested we go for a drink, I was too happy to accept the invitation, but it turned out to be an anticlimax.
I swallowed one beer after another but the stuff did not as much as stir my brain and neither did it soften my mouth. I was my usual self- soft spoken and reserved.
I don`t know what had happened to Meshack during the day but he too would not get drunk.
We kept yawning from time to time and eventually we decided to call it a day. It was 10.00 in the evening - not the best time to go home on a Friday evening. But we had to.
We decide to walk some distance before hiring a taxi; just to do a bit of cost cutting. We had enough money to pay for a taxi from where we were but sober as we were, we became mean.
Sometimes it is good to get drunk because you don`t give damn how much money you spend. I am sure if we were drunk we would have hired a taxi there and then.
``How much will it cost us to Tabata,`` I asked the taxi driver, after we had made ourselves comfortable in the car.
The driver took his time to answer. He looked as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep or he was nursing a very nasty hangover.
He stroked his chin on which there was kinky beard before he answered absent mindedly,`` That will be fifteen thousand.``
``Come on!`` I shot up. ``It is not the first time that we take a taxi from this place. Seven thousand; take it or drop us right here,`` I yelled at him.
He kept on driving.
``Look here young man; take the seven thousand or there is no deal, okay?` Meshack insisted.
The driver took his time, again stroking his chin.`` I will take twelve,`` he said lazily.
Meshack got furious: ``Kwenda huko! Who do you think you are to be so arrogant. You are talking with customers who have money.
We are not begging for service and you talk to us as if we want a free ride,`` Meshack fumed, staring at the drive with blood shot eyes. The beer had gone into the eyes instead of the brain, it seemed.
The diver`s temper also rose an octave. He stopped the car as Meshack caught him by the collar, ready to punch him.
I was on the back seat so it took me quite an effort to restrain my friend as tempers flared.
Eventually and after a bit of a scuffle, however, the driver backed down and demanded that we pay him 1,000/- for the distance he had driven us. I thought it was okay and gave him the money.
``The guy is stupid. I think he doesn`t usually drive the car. Probably it belongs to a relative and he drives it just to while away the time; he is not doing serious business, I think,`` Meshack said. I just kept quiet.
We were walking slowly towards another taxi stand.
``What if he had decided to fight, would you match him?` I asked Meshack as we walked.
``No way, I was merely threatening him hoping that he would not react. I figured you would help if things turned for the worse,`` he said as we both broke into laughter.
We hailed another taxi. The driver said it would be six thousand shillings to our destination.
``You see!`` Meshack said. ``That guy merely wanted to steal from us,`` he added.
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