Tanzania committed to the planned tarmac highway around the Serengeti National Park

President Jakaya Kikwete speaks in Davos today

Tanzania has reiterated its position on the planned tarmac highway around the Serengeti National Park to ease transport problems facing poor communities surrounding the Park, saying it will still go ahead and build the road.

However, contrary to what groups lobbying against the planned highway have been claiming, the Government insists the highway will not be built through the Serengeti, which has been acclaimed internationally as the World Heritage Site.

The Government position was articulated yesterday (Thursday, January 27, 2011) by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete during his bilateral talks with the Managing Director of the World Bank, Ms. Ngozi Ikonjo-Iweala at the margins of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which both the President and Mrs.Ikonjo-Iweala are attending in Davos.

“Contrary to what some people are saying, and to the rumors being circulated everywhere, my Government has never decided to build a tarmac road through the Serengeti,” President Kikwete told Ms Ikonjo-Iweala.

President Kikwete told the World Bank Managing Director that the Government plan seeks to severely reduce the length of the current road passing through the Serengenti National Park.

He said that currently a 220-kilometre unpaved road was running through the Serengeti and that the Government want to reduce it to only 54 kilometres that will pass through the National Park and those 54 kilometers will remain unpaved.

“Currently, 220 kilometers of road are passing through Serengeti National Park, right in the middle of the Park. And there is huge traffic crossing the park with large lorries and huge buses. We are unhappy with this situation. We want to reduce the length of road going through the Serengenti to only 54 kilometers passing mainly through the northern tip of the Park,” said President Kikwete.

He added: “This planned highway will meet three major objectives. One, is to reduce the flow of traffic passing the Park. Second, is to reduce the length of the road running through the Serengeti and third is to empower those poor communities living just outside the Serengeti to have a reliable road going through their area.”

“Some of the accusations against the Tanzania Government on this issue are quite absurd. People sit in Dar es Salaam and listen to all these people and institutions which are paid to say bad things about the Government, said the President and added:

“ Tanzania has the most impeccable record in conservation in the world. About 20 per cent of our land has been under conservation since our independence in 1961. We are a leading nation in conservation in the world. How, then can we make decisions that would destroy the Serengeti? We would be the last people to destroy the Serengeti.”

President Kikwete has advised those who are interested in getting accurate facts about Government plans on the road supporting poor communities surrounding the Serengeti National Party to talk to the right people.

“We have a responsibility to our people. They need a road and we will deliver it to them while fully preserving our beloved Serengeti National Park,” said President Kikwete in relation to the long-running campaign against this road mainly by non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and some conservation groups.