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Artificial rain project on the rocks
2008-02-29 09:19:58
By Felister Peter
The government is contemplating to drop the artificial rain-making project, which was to commence next month.
Sources at the Ministry of Infrastructure Development told The Guardian yesterday that the government had come to learn that the project was too expensive to execute and was therefore mulling over to abandon it.
Artificial rainmakers from Thailand are expected in the country next month, although the officials told The Guardian that the government was likely to cancel the trip.
``The government has come to realize that it is too expensive to bring the Thai rainmakers into the country, since the process includes things that require a lot of money,`` said an official, who opted for anonymity.
The idea of artificial rainmaking was conceived by former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa, when he visited Thailand last year at a time when Tanzania was facing acute drought.
Lowassa asked Thailand to introduce artificial rain making technology in the country.
Lowassa resigned as PM early this month when findings of the parliamentary select committee on a controversial power purchase contract had implicated him.
The multi-billion power generation contract was awarded to a brief case American company—Richmond Development Company LLC, prompting a parliamentary inquiry.
Under the rain making agreement, the government meets all the costs and will provide an airplane to be used during cloud seeding while Thailand has to provide both the technology and equipment.
``Currently, we don`t have any immediate demand of extra rain water because our hyro-dams are filled to capacity,`` said the official.
Last month, the government said it was finalizing preparations for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thailand, so that rain making demonstrations would take place between March and May this year.
The two governments were still working on the drafts of the MoU.
The demonstrations would have focused on earmarked areas where there are special activities like agriculture and water harvesting for production of electricity.
The first demonstration was set to be done at Usangu Basin in Mbeya, Iringa and Dodoma regions.
The demonstrations were scheduled for March and May this year apparently because the process could not be undertaken during the dry season, but only in the wet season so as to induce more rainfall.
Tanzanians were assured that the Thais had been using such technology for more than 30 years and nobody had been adversely affected.
The Tanzanian Government had drawn its experts from the Ministry of Water, Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA), Ministry of Agriculture and National Environment Management Council (NEMC).
Last year, a Thai delegation came into the country to look into the possibilities of doing a rainmaking demonstration.
It was led by deputy permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Theera Wongsamit, and Warawut Kantiyayan, the director; Royal Rainmaking Bureau and Agricultural Activities.
The delegation came at an invitation extended by Lowassa. Some water experts however, challenged the former prime minister`s move, saying it would have an adverse effect on the environment.
A scientist, Dr Victoria Ngomuo from Community Water and Demographer at the Water Resources Institute (WRI) in Dar es Salaam, warned that the government must first study the viability, practicability and implications of artificial rain technology before importing it.
She said the chemicals used in the production of artificial rain could affect climatic patterns, ecosystem, water sources and the soil.
Dr Ngomuo said the chemicals were catalysts which, when in microscopic particles, attracted water vapour that condensed to form water droplets known as artificial rain.
Excessive use of the chemicals, Dr Ngomuo warned, would affect biodiversity and make the soil unproductive, besides being a water pollutant.
The chemicals are most likely to affect the natural hydrological circle in the atmosphere, she said.
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