On Wednesday, The Citizen reported that some 262
kilogrammes worth $413,000 (Sh826 million) had been seized at Zurich
Airport in Switzerland en route to China from Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA) on 6 July.
Despite the
government’s efforts to crack down on poaching and ivory smuggling, this
illegal business continues unabated, most probably due to lack of
political will. We believe it is possible to crack down on poaching and
ivory smuggling and keep our elephants safe.
It is
ridiculous that, despite modern monitoring technology, JNIA is incapable
of detecting ivory packed in ordinary suitcases. It also raises
questions that security officers at JNIA did not even suspect that such
deals were underfoot. If JNIA is not equipped to detect ivory packed in
ordinary suitcases, how about sophisticated drug smuggling or
trafficking?
We say this because we are concerned about
security in our country and we want people all over the world to trust
the services offered at our checkpoints, including the safety of
visitors.
Given the developments so far, it is evident
that Tanzania is now notorious for poaching and ivory smuggling.
According to Tanzania’s Wildlife Research Institute, the number of
elephants in the country has dropped from 109,051 in 2009 to just 43,330
in 2013--a drop of 60 per cent or so in five years. It is beyond belief
that we can allow this to happen right under our noses.
In
Ruaha and Rungwa game reserves, especially, the number of elephants is
down to 8,500 from 20,000 in 2013. And we have yet to take into account
Selous, Mikumi and Serengeti. A study has it that 62 per cent of the
elephants were killed between 2002 and 2011 and an update pushed it to
65 per cent between 2002 and 2013.
All this points to
one fact:Ivory smuggling is gathering momentum in the country due to
rising demand in Asian countries. We do not need to be told how
important it is to protect our elephants. They are our inheritance and
they belong to both the present and future generations.
No comments :
Post a Comment