Seminar On Serengeti Road Plan Draws Mixed Reactions

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Edward Qorro

28 April 2011

The construction of the proposed highway through Serengeti National Park sparked a heated debate yesterday, with stakeholders in the tourism sector opposing the plan.In the centre of the controversy are the Maasai and Kurya communities which support the construction of the 400-kilometre highway against tourism stakeholders who are against the plan.

Mr Sirili Akko, the executive officer of Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato) told participants in the workshop at the Patrice Lumumba Hall of the Dar es Salaam International Conference Centre (DICC), that the construction of the highway was unprocedural and that no feasibility study was done on it.

The youthful executive officer added that should the construction of the highway continue, it would destroy breeding sites for rhinos. “If we construct this road, all our rhinos will disappear… We should strive to conserve our heritage for future generations,” he added.

According to Mr Akko, the presence of the road would reduce the number of tourists visiting the park, which is listed as a world natural heritage site by UNESCO. Among other effects, the road would lead to unemployment, increased human activities as well as giving room to poachers.

“We are likely to see petrol stations in the park if the road is constructed, and this will simply destruct our ecosystem,” he warned. In concurrence, the executive secretary of the Tourism Confederation of Tanzania (TCT), Mr Richard Rugimbana, maintained that it was of no use to construct the highway as it would affect the tourism sector, which he said was a significant contributor to the national economy.

The construction of the highway would, according to Mr Rugimbana, scare away wildlife and tamper with the annual migration of wildebeests to Maasai Mara.

Last year, the tourism sector contributed $1.2 billion (Sh1.7 trillion) to the country’s gross domestic product, with at least 782, 969 tourists visiting the country. The country’s tourism sector has employed a total of 350,000 staff who work in the formal sector, with another one million attached to the informal sector, according to Mr Rugimbana.

The debate became heated and emotional when the Ngorongoro MP, Mr Saning’o Ole Telele, okayed the construction of the highway on grounds that it would spare the Maasai community the burden of walking long distances in search of social services.

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