PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa on Thursday received a list of names of 453 individuals, who are willingly to be relocated from Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).
They are members of 86 households among the pastoral communities, who have expressed their intention of moving from the 8,292 square kilometres. Presenting the list to the Premier, Arusha Regional Commissioner John Mongela assured of a smooth relocation of the individuals to their new surroundings.
“We’ll ensure that they get title deeds for their rangelands, farms and homes as many more to register in my office,” disclosed the regional commissioner.
Earlier, while addressing more than 350 Maasai elders, also known as Laigwanans, the Premier said President Samia Suluhu Hassan had expressed her deep concern over the fate of the area which received the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark status in 2018.
The president’s apparent concern had to do with the sheer number of livestock, human beings and human settlements, which co-existed with wildlife, according to the Prime Minister.
“There was this fear that the Ngorongoro area was on the verge of extinction and could eventually get stripped off some of its revered ecological global accolades,” said the PM.
Mr Majaliwa disclosed to the Laigwanans that President Samia was equally worried and taken aback with the struggle of striking the right balance between conservation and livelihoods when the number of people living inside the NCA currently stood at 110,000.
“This wasn’t a problem back then because we had just 8,000 who had between 20 and 30 herd livestock… but today the number of people and livestock combined has shot up to more than 813,000,” he exclaimed.
The PM also singled out the mushrooming of permanent structures in the area with social services such as health and education getting compromised.
Mr Majaliwa who convened a meeting with the Laigwanans at the Oretei Loongaik – Marya, shrine located within the Arusha Technical College (ATC) vicinity, further informed the Maasai elders that the government had allocated 400,000 square kilometres of land in Handeni District, Tanga Region for those who will voluntarily vacate the UNESCO designated natural heritage site.
Out of the expansive area, some 220,000 square kilometers will be used for settlements and grazing.
“The government has already surveyed 2,406 plots in the new area, with 2,070 allocated for human settlements,” the PM explained.
He further stated that the new move will see the construction 101 three-bedroom houses, with 336 plots allocated for social services such as schools, health centers and water systems.
Mr Majaliwa also assured the vacating pastoral communities that the area will be entitled to free Rural Energy Agency (REA) source of power. In the same vein, the PM urged the Laigwanans to retain the shrine located inside ATC for their conducting their rituals.
Earlier Isaac Ole Kisongo, a renowned Laigwanan, vowed before the PM that the pastoralist communities in the northern part of the country would do anything within their capacities to protect and safeguard the country’s rich natural resources. Demonstrating the rise of their traditional Maasai batons, the elders pledged to cooperate with the government in the quest of protecting the resources.
Ole Kisongo was categorical that relocation wasn’t a new thing in the country, noting some Tanzanians had to peacefully vacate places they once called homes to pave way for the construction of development projects such as the Oil pipeline project which cuts across Tanzania and Uganda.
One of the Maasai elders Mzee Matengway Ole Tauwo couldn’t hide his excitement over the proposed plan of moving to Handeni, comparing it to land full of ‘Milk and Honey’