Zamiluni Zamiluni
JF-Expert Member
- Feb 11, 2014
- 13,996
- 15,118
Saturday, June 21 2014 at 08:07
Arusha.
Tanzania has lost a case on the proposed highway across the Serengeti National Park filed by a Nairobi-based animal welfare organisation. The First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) ruled yesterday that the planned tarmacked road from Loliondo-Kleins Gate/Tabora B to Mugumu/Natta would damage the park's ecosystem.
The decision is a big blow to Tanzania, which had vowed to continue with its plans to build the road to tarmac level despite growing pressure from environmentalists and wildlife conservationists.
President Jakaya Kikwete had earlier promised supporters a commercial highway across the Serengeti--a pledge greeted with strong international protest on the grounds that it posed a great threat to the World Heritage site. The government has been reiterating its position on the highway, which was meant to ease transport problems of the poor communities in the neighbourhood of the park, saying it will go ahead and build the road.
The President once accused groups lobbying against the planned highway of distorting the facts. He said the highway would not be built through the Serengeti, which is acclaimed internationally as a World Heritage Site. He said then that his government only sought to reduce the length of the current road passing through the Serengenti.
Reading the judgment, Deputy Principal Judge Isaac Lenaola said that, given the ecological concerns, the plan to build the bitumen standard road across the park was unlawful.
The action would also infringe the East African Community (EAC) Treaty under which member countries are compelled to respect protocols on conservation, protection and management of natural resources. The court, therefore, restrained the government from going ahead with the project because it had the potential to inflict "irreparable and irreversible" damage to the environment. "We have already ruled on that subject based on the evidence before us and no more," Judge Lenaola said. He noted that although building the road may be a popular decision by policy makers, the environment is rarely ever repaired once damaged.
Source: The Citizen
Arusha.
Tanzania has lost a case on the proposed highway across the Serengeti National Park filed by a Nairobi-based animal welfare organisation. The First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) ruled yesterday that the planned tarmacked road from Loliondo-Kleins Gate/Tabora B to Mugumu/Natta would damage the park's ecosystem.
The decision is a big blow to Tanzania, which had vowed to continue with its plans to build the road to tarmac level despite growing pressure from environmentalists and wildlife conservationists.
President Jakaya Kikwete had earlier promised supporters a commercial highway across the Serengeti--a pledge greeted with strong international protest on the grounds that it posed a great threat to the World Heritage site. The government has been reiterating its position on the highway, which was meant to ease transport problems of the poor communities in the neighbourhood of the park, saying it will go ahead and build the road.
The President once accused groups lobbying against the planned highway of distorting the facts. He said the highway would not be built through the Serengeti, which is acclaimed internationally as a World Heritage Site. He said then that his government only sought to reduce the length of the current road passing through the Serengenti.
Reading the judgment, Deputy Principal Judge Isaac Lenaola said that, given the ecological concerns, the plan to build the bitumen standard road across the park was unlawful.
The action would also infringe the East African Community (EAC) Treaty under which member countries are compelled to respect protocols on conservation, protection and management of natural resources. The court, therefore, restrained the government from going ahead with the project because it had the potential to inflict "irreparable and irreversible" damage to the environment. "We have already ruled on that subject based on the evidence before us and no more," Judge Lenaola said. He noted that although building the road may be a popular decision by policy makers, the environment is rarely ever repaired once damaged.
Source: The Citizen
