Arusha. Locals involved in hunting tourism have expressed fears over the possibility of losing blocks which are scheduled to be auctioned starting next week.
The Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa) announced last month that it will sell 75 hunting blocks within Game Reserves (GRs), Game Controlled Areas (GCAs) and Open Areas (OAs) that are immediately available for electronic auctioning (e-auctioning).
Some of these blocks are currently possessed by local companies which now fear they will lose their business to foreign firms which they say have financial muscles.
Some of the owners say they were so affected by Covid-19 pandemic that they will not be able to compete with the foreign companies.
One of the tourism hunting block operators, Dr Ricky Abdallah, advise the government to halt auctioning of some 49 blocks which are under locals and instead, auction only vacant blocks.
“We are pleading with the government to postpone the planned auction because most locals will lose the business. We have no muscle now to compete with big firms,” he said
Dr Abdallah, who claims to have been in the hunting business for 29 years now, says the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association (Tahoa) has already written to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to request postponing of the auction and have dialogue with the operators.
“We are not against auctioning but we want our share retained. The auction can be postponed so that we also prepare to participate. The locals have played a great role to protect and reserve the animals in these blocks which are now likely to go with big firms which have financial muscles. Local participation should be considered,” he said.
An official with Tahoa who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the locals had contributed enough to protect animals and environment but they would now be evicted to pave the way for new companies.
Another operator, Mr John Mallya, requested the government to make sure that the new foreign operators form partnerships with the local hunting companies to ensure the local content.
“We are not against the government plan but we want to continue participating in the hunting business. Let’s have dialogue,” he said.
According to him, the government should aim to get more money from people who come to hunt instead of asking the block operators to pay heavily.
Speaking during a meeting with hunting operators recently, the acting conservation commissioner of Tawa, Mr Mabula Misungwi, allayed the fears of the operators, saying the government wanted to increase transparency and collections from tourist hunting.
Tawa head of public relations and communications, Waha Twaibu said yesterday that the announced auction is still as planned. “I have no any information of halting or postponing the auction. I request the hunting operators to get ready for the coming auction,” he said.
The auctioning will commence on January 12, 2022, and will last for seven consecutive days.
Eligible hunting companies can be allocated up to five hunting blocks each, which shall be of different categories. The tenure of ownership of hunting blocks shall be 10 years for Category I and II hunting blocks and 15 years for category III hunting blocks, according to Tawa.
No comments :
Post a Comment