Tourist firm opposed to public road through Serengeti

Singita Grumeti Reserves said yesterday that it is opposed to a public road through the Serengeti National Park, unless it is under the jurisdiction of the Tanzania National Park’s (TANAPA) and used solely for tourism purposes.

This comes barely a few days after President Jakaya Kikwete assured the public, and especially people from outside the country and environmental activists, that he himself was an activist with regard to environmental preservation and a lover of the Serengeti National Park.

The President said in his monthly address that the decision by the government to construct a road through Ngorongoro and Serengeti game parks would upset many people, especially environmental activists and wildlife lovers.

In a statement made available to this paper yesterday, Singita Grumeti Reserves said the preservation of the Serengeti National Park and the protection of the wildebeest migration route in northern Serengeti was critical, adding that Singita Grumeti Reserves has been an integral part of the conservation effort.

“Recently there have been reports that there are plans to construct a major highway running through the northern section of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, which is home to the world-famous wildebeest and zebra migration, and Grumeti Reserves is one among those mentioned as sponsors of the road construction,” it said.

It said Singita’s mission was to support low impact, sustainable ecotourism in the Serengeti as the best way to improve the economic opportunities of Serengeti district residents. Singita has been the largest supporter of conservation and community development in the Serengeti since 2003 and is deeply committed to the people and wildlife of Tanzania.

Most recently, in May 2010, it partnered with the Tanzanian government to reintroduce the first black rhino in the Serengeti in over forty years, at a project cost of over USD5 million.

President Jakaya Kikwete recently clarified the confusion regarding government plans to construct a tarmac road from Arusha to Mara which would pass through the Sengereti National Park.

According to the statement issued yesterday, the President said construction of the tarmac road would start from Musoma to Mto wa Mbu via Magumu in Sengereti district, onward to Liliondo in Ngorongoro district.