Despite losing votes and parliamentary seats in national elections in early November, Tanzania's Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party remained in power as incumbent Jakaya Kikwete won the presidency with 62.8% of votes. CCM -- Swahili for "Revolutionary Party" -- has now been in power since 1977, when it was created with the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (which had been in power since the country's formation in 1964) and the Afro-Shirazi Party. Although the status quo was seemingly retained, Kikwete's victory could result in a drastic change for the nation.
One of the Kikwete's election promises was to build a highway through the Serengeti, perhaps the world's most famous national park. The road is intended to link Arusha, a city in the central-northern part of the country, with Musoma, situated on Lake Victoria in the country's northwest corner. The road is seen as a way to bring economic development to poor regions in the north, as well as a way to connect the north with the rest of the nation. There are also more practical advantages. For example, the proposed highway would enable residents of small towns in the vicinity to get to hospitals more quickly. For these reasons, many local residents support the road proposal.
But directly in between Arusha and Musoma lies the Serengeti, as well as the adjacent Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Roads do exist in the Serengeti already, as safari vehicles need to traverse the area. But these are dirt roads, not a tarmac highway. The main concern about the proposed highway is that it will hinder the “Great Migration,” in which literally millions of animals (mostly wildebeests and zebras) annually circle through the Serengeti and Kenya's adjacent Masai Mara National Reserve. Conservationists worry about animals being hit by speeding vehicles, and even if the highway were walled off to prevent such collisions, the walls would interfere with migratory patterns. And if the migration is thrown off, the entire ecosystem could be affected.
A small fraction of the great migration
Opponents raise additional concerns about the highway as well. For example, the highway could lead to an increase in poaching -- already a big problem -- as the road would not only make more areas of the park accessible to more vehicles, but it would also enable poachers to get in and out of the park more quickly. Invasive plant species could also enter the park through vehicle tires. Yet this issue extends far beyond simply protecting animals, as the highway could dramatically affect not just local people but the country as a whole. The safari business is an enormous part of Tanzania's economy, and the Serengeti is the center of action. The tourism industry employs over 600,000 Tanzanians and brought in over a billion dollars in 2009. The Serengeti alone attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year. As one safari operator put it, "If anything bad happens to the Serengeti, we’re finished."
Opponents of the highway have proposed an alternate route that would bypass the Serengeti, skirting the park to the south by passing through the city of Mwanza on its way to Musoma. While this route would not be as direct as the government's proposed track, it would not intrude on the Serengeti, and it could actually serve more people. The Frankfurt Zoological Society estimates that the southern perimeter route could serve more than five times as many people as the road directly through the Serengeti.
Still, Kikwete, who has generally supported conservation during his presidency-,and his government have not budged on the initial plan. CCM officials claim that they have done a thorough examination of the road's potential effects and have determined that "there will be no impact on the migration." Others in the party think of it in terms of priorities. As Salvator Rweyemamu, the President's spokesman, quipped, "you guys always talk about animals, but we need to think about people."
That is a sentiment that most would agree with. Yet in Tanzania, where the fortunes of the latter could very well depend on those of the former, it might not be so simple.
No comments:
Post a Comment