The government has given a green light for the construction of a modern highway linking Arusha and Mara regions through the Serengeti National Park, putting the great wildebeest migration in the park at risk.
The decision ends a three-year-green activists’ protest against the proposed 480km Arusha-Musoma tarmac road, saying it will interfere with the annual migration of some 1.8 million wildlife through the heart of Serengeti.
Isidor Shirima Arusha Regional Commissioner told the The Guardian on Sunday that President Jakaya Kikwete had to intervene by highlighting socio-economic significance of the proposed road for the Tanzania National Parks Authority (TANAPA) to buy the idea.
However, the new highway will cut through the Serengeti across which big herds of wildlife march by the tens of thousands annually. Meanwhile, a traditional elephant migration route would also be divided by it.
It could not be established immediately what made TANAPA accept the routing they fought against for three years or if political instructions came down on them like the proverbial tonne of bricks. But the unusual silence of regular sources within and close to TANAPA speaks volume for itself.
“This issue is no longer in our corridors. The ball is now in the court of TANROADS,” TANAPA Public Relations Manager, Pascal Shelutete said in telephone, hang-up.
Serengeti National Park, which shares the ecosystem with the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya, has been described as sensitive nature conserved site in Africa and needed an international concern.
Regional Manager for Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS) Deusdedit Kakoko has said the cost of the project is $480-million, out of which $260-million would cover the Arusha-Serengeti section and $220-million for Serengeti-Musoma.
According to Kakoko, the real work would begin early 2012, after a feasibility study is completed at the end of this year.
“In January, 2011 TANROADS will mobilise resources for the project as well as floating tenders for consultants, and the real works should be underway by early 2012” Kakoko explained.
The freeway which is projected to be one of the busiest highways in the northern zone will stretch from Mto-wa-Mbu junction on Arusha - Ngorongoro road to Engaruka-Engaresero area, Lake Natron shores, Loliondo, Serengeti’s Kleins Corner en-route to Musoma town.
Proponents of the road reportedly considered the impact of the main highway leading through Mikumi National Park in Tanzania, where a tarmac road runs through the park towards Mbeya, but the sanctuary is limited to smaller numbers of animals crossing the road.
In 2006, USA Today and ABC-TV's Good Morning America, a multi-disciplined panel named the Serengeti sanctuary covering 14,763 sq. km, Site of "The Great Migration" as the Seventh New Wonder of the World.
The annual Great Migration of over 1.8 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebras is one of the most fascinating aspects of life on the Serengeti.
The animals spend most of their time in the Serengeti, 8-9 months a year, because of the availability of ample food resources, attracting most tourists.
Author Bruce Feiler (Walking in the Bible), one of the panelists who selected the Seven New Wonders, notes in USA Today that "the Serengeti is not only a natural wonder that takes your breath away, but it symbolizes years of human endeavor to conserve the natural world."
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