Object construction of hotels, lodges in park Nyalandu gives double sided response, 'No more construction�without assessment'
Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Lazaro Nyalandu
The move was in protest against any further construction of hotels and lodges in the Ngorongoro Park as well as their limited representations in the newly appointed NCAA board.
“We don’t want more hotel investments in Ngorongoro…We want 5 per cent representation on the board…We want areas for pastures…My right as indigenous person has been disregarded…” read some of the placards they were carrying.
Others claimed: “Indigenous people are not involved in managing and conserving Ngorongoro…Prime Minister’s promises not fulfilled…and…The right to life in jeopardy for Maasai living in Ngorongoro.”
Forced to respond, minister Nyalandu’s answer was ambigous.
On one hand, he told the protestors that there will be no more hotels or lodges constructed in the park but on the other hand, he conditioned the no construction promise to Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (EIA).
He explained that the government was fully aware of the negative impacts posed by the disputed constructions.
“So, we are taking all measures needed to keep the area as safe,” Nyalandu said.
He however acknowledged that investments in Ngorongoro are guided by the NCAA’s General Management Plan (GMP) in which there is no clause that allows investments in the crater rims.
The minister further conceded that even President Jakaya Kikwete has discouraged more investments in the protected area.
On the issue of 5 per cent Maasai representation on the NCAA’s board, Nyalandu admitted that the current board has only one member from the Pastoral Council (PC)—the only body that represents pastoralist residents’ rights and interests in the NCAA.
With that, he pledged that within two weeks, he will appoint an influential person from the Maasai Community to the board.
It has not been explained whether the appointment of the single individual will bring the number of Maasai representation to 5 per cent as requested.
He nonetheless assured the region’s indigenous protestors that: “We want Maasai to be part and parcel of the management of this resource.”
Nyalandu admitted that there are enormous challenges facing NCAA including the increasing number of human activities (like the construction of hotels and lodges).
He went on to call on the newly appointed board to amicably end ongoing and escalating conflicts between the authority’s management and the Maasai who live there.
He said the new board needs to come up with a better strategy that would make the two rival parties live in harmony and to come up with a participatory and inclusive plan.
The minister acknowledged that if left unattended, the ongoing conflicts will have a very negative impact to tourism development.
Chairperson of the twelve member board, Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar pledged to work on the ministers’ directives.
Available statistics indicate that the 8,292 square kilometres NCAA in addition to nearly 90,000 human beings also supports more than 130,000 livestock, mostly cattle with some 20,000 goats and sheep thrown in.
When the NCAA was established in 1959, it had a population of some 8,000 Maasai, 50 years later in 2009 the number had risen to over 66,000 and during the recent specialized census in the division, the figure has clocked in excess of 87,000.
The Maasai are the only ethnic group allowed to co-exist with wildlife in the Ngorongoro having dwelt there since time immemorial without damaging the precious environment.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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