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The visitor who came un announced
2008-07-02 10:02:05
By Deodatus Mfugale
It is more than a year since the proposal to build a soda ash plant on Lake Natron was presented to the public so that they could give their views which could eventually help the government to make an informed decision.
The process has been going on with experts in the natural environment and other fields giving their opinion as to why the factory should be built and why it should not.
Economists have also come up with what should be expected from the operations and what should be not in terms of revenue collection.
The experts have also shown how the millions of shillings expected as profit from the operations of the plant could be used to improve social services in the area and beyond so that a new level of development is realised in the district as a whole.
The idea is to ensure that stakeholders participate fully in the process so the decision that which the government will make regarding the factory would be acceptable to most of them.
Yet more than one year after the project proposals was presented to the public, many communities around the Lake Natron are not aware of it.
Residents of Lolbillil village located on the Northern fringes of Lake Natron, for example, do no know anything about the proposed project.
The Maasai pastoralists live on the shores of the Lake and their herds graze side by side with zebras, gazelle, wildebeest and antelopes, among others.
The village which lies a few meters from the Tanzanian border with Kenya, is also a gateway for tourists from Kenya who flock Lake Natron to view flamingos, various bird species and wild animals.
Lake Natron which boasts of abundant and unique bird and plant species, is an important Ramsar Site.
It is a breeding ground for about 75 per cent of the world population of lesser flamingos.
Residents of Lolbilil told a team of environmentalists led by the Lawyers Environmental Action Team (LEAT) that it was the first time for them to hear about plans to build the factory.
The delegation also included members from the Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET), Arusha NGO Network and Ujamma Community Conservation from Loliondo District.
``We don`t know a thing about it,`` explained Samburi Edindir an old man who was the leader of the Maasai village.
The villagers get their day to day requirements from Kenya as it is almost cut off from other villages of Loliondo District.
Given the situation, the villagers don`t use Tanzanian currency instead they use Kenyan money because they buy all what they need from Kenya.
A rough road which can only be used during the dry season connects them to the nearest village on Tanzanian soil, Pinyiny, which is located about 26 kilometres away.
The nearest village on the Kenyan side is a shorter distance away.
Besides having no reliable roads, the village has no dispensary but residents are served by flying doctor services from Wasso Mission Hospital in Loliondo, about 200 kilometres away.
``The service is only once a week, on Fridays, and if someone falls ill at the beginning of the week, then we have to take them to Olaita in Kenya, which is also far away,`` explained Oletit Oleng`aboli, another member of the village.
For a school, the village has only one nursery school and once the children graduate then the family has to separate.
``The mother has to shift to Pinyiny, 26 kilometres away, where there is a school. This means the family has to separate into two and reunite when schools close, if children have to get education,`` explained Edindir.
Under the circumstances, many families do not take their children to school beyond the nursery level for fear of causing separation in the family.
So boys end up herding livestock while girls help their mothers with domestic chores.
Asked if they are ready to see the factory being built in the area, they said that they do not support the plan.
``We have a small area here and once that factory starts to operate more people will come in and land grabbing will start; where will we get pasture for all these cattle?`` queried Edindir. His boma had close to 200 cattle.
Other Communities in Pinyiny, Ngare Sero, Matali, Gelai, Kitumbeine and Wosiwosi are against the project much as they are aware about it.
Indeed the Lolbilil villagers has very little land because the Kenyan border to the North and East sides is hardly hundred metres away.
To the South lies Lake Natron and to the West is the Rift Valley escarpment.
The small space that is left is only for grazing livestock which again is shared among with wildlife.
But that is not the only worry the Maasai have.
``Foreigners will bring in new things which will spoil our children. They will create problems and there will be new challenges which are likely to disrupt the peace we are enjoying here. We would better be left alone,`` said Oleyeyai Olesiang’au, another villager.
The Tanzania government, through the National Development Corporation has invited Tata Chemicals Ltd of India to invest in the soda ash extraction plant that would generate a lot of revenue when it starts production.
The project is also expected to create a lot of employment opportunities for members of the communities as well as outsiders.
However, it is important to involve the local communities in the whole process of establishing the plant so that they become aware of the benefits and the environmental and social costs that go with the project.
In his feature article published in the Daily News on June 9, this year, Industrial Engineering Designer Hamisi Kiliza explained that communities around Lake Natron have to develop as a modern society by having access to quality health services, education, enough nutritious food and good houses; all of which could be attained by exploiting the soda ash on Lake Natron.
The pastoralist communities would be rid of poverty he adds.
There is no doubt that the soda plant will generate a lot of money and other benefits but the important question here is whether these benefits will trickle down to improve the quality of life of he pastoralist communities.
We have seen cases where minerals such as gold, diamond and tanzanite being extracted in various parts of the country but communities living adjacent to the mines have had little access to quality social services.
The situation at the oldest soda extraction plant in East Africa on Lake Magadi in Kenya paints a realistic picture of the situation.
Kiiza comes down to earth when he says that the communities must seek their own type and style of economic development in accordance with their culture and tribal patterns.
This view sounds practicable as long as the local communities participate fully in the whole process of the project and the investor become transparent on what the communities should expect from it. There are views that the indigenous population is so entrenched in their culture and traditions that they might remain aloof.
Here then is the opportunity for the district council and other local government authorities in the area to educate them on the circumstance so that they know what they stand to gain economically and the sacrifice they would have to pay for the gains.
It is important to avoid imposing the project on local communities for political or any other reasons.
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