Tanzania adamant on Serengeti road works

 

 

 THROUGHWAY: The government insists that Serengeti has all along been conserved by Tanzania and it is the property of a sovereign state. The government is appealing the EACJ ruling. (COURTESY PHOTO)

ARUSHA,Tanzania - The government, through the Attorney General’s Office, has appealed against the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) for its recent verdict to block a new road through the Serengeti National Park.

The AG last week submitted before the EACJ maintaining that the court has no jurisdiction to block construction of the proposed highway which has been criticised by environmental activists.

“Serengeti has all along been conserved by Tanzania and it is the property of a sovereign state”, Principal State Attorney Gabriel P. Malata told the Appellate Division of the Court here.

He argued that no clause in the Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community (EAC) had objected to the construction of the road across the famous national park which, he said, still remained a mere proposal.

Mr Malata made the submissions as the Appellate Division of the Court convened for a scheduling conference for the appeal lodged by Tanzania against the court verdict on June 20, this year, which barred Tanzania from building the road.

The First Instance Division of EACJ in its verdict ruled that the planned tarmac road across Serengeti National Park would cause considerable damage to the delicate  ecosystem which extends to Maasai-Mara Game Reserve in Kenya.

The case was filed in December 2010 by the African Network for Animal Welfare (ANAW), a charitable Pan African animal welfare and community-centred organisation registered in Kenya.

Advocate Saitabao Ole Kanchory, representing the animal welfare group, said failure or delay by Tanzania to ratify the EAC Environment and Natural Resource Protocol was no excuse for it to carry out a project which would have ‘deleterious environmental and ecological effects on the trans-boundary ecosystem.

He added that Tanzania was also bound to adhere to the international and the African continent protocols and conventions to protect the Serengeti, which has been declared a world natural heritage site by Unesco.

Lawyers for the Nairobi-based non-governmental organisation had further argued that given a Tanzania’s commitment to various international and regional treaty protocols for conservation, construction of the tarmac road would also infringe on the EAC Treaty.

The Court under Justice Liboire Nkurunziza, the vice president of EACJ who was the presiding judge at the session, Justice James Ogoola and Justice Edward Rutakangwa directed the two sides to file written submissions. The appellant, the AG of Tanzania, was requested to hand in the submissions in 14 days while the respondent (ANAW through  Kanchory & Co Advocates of Nairobi) was given 30 days.

Meanwhile the Tanzania government has been asked to consider building the proposed commercial-tarmac road through the Southern route known as Lake Eyasi route, rather than across the Serengeti National Park.

Mazingira Network Tanzania (MANET), a network organization dealing with environmental issues, in a statement says the plan, will ensure a sustainable economy, management of wildlife and other natural resources and collective benefits for current and future generations, as well as meet the demands of global conservation concerns and efforts.

MANET Secretary Frank Luvanda  said  his network understands the need for the government to promote infrastructure development in order to bring desirable services to the communities bordering the Serengeti National Park, but this should be done while taking into account sustainable management of wildlife and other natural resources in Tanzania,” he said.

“MANET understands and supports the right of every district in Tanzania to be connected to the Tanzania road network,” he noted “For MANET, this means that Serengeti and Ngorongoro districts have the right to have good tarmac roads but again, any attempt to connect these two districts should consider sustainable management of wildlife and other natural resources that will ensure sustainable development in the two districts and the nation as a whole.