Business Daily (Nairobi)
Solomon Mburu
13 November 2007
A Soda Ash mining project around Lake Natron in Tanzania hangs in the balance following an order by the country's environmental watchdog that a new assessment of likely impact be done.
The National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) of Tanzania made the recommendation after activists alleged that a previous assessment by Norconsult had notable weaknesses. Nature lovers have been warning that the construction could spell doom for the endangered Lesser Flamingo whose only remaining breeding point is the lake.
The recommendation to repeat the EIA was made to the Tanzanian Environment Minister Mr Mark Mwandosya who has 30 days to respond to the NEMC proposal.
Top Tanzania government officials have expressed support for the project.
Despite the suspension, The Lake Natron Consultative Forum, a group of East African conservation organizations, is seeking other avenues to have the project abandoned.
"We want to take it to the East African Legislative Assembly and the EAC secretariat," said Mr Ken Mwathe, the head of ecology at the African Conservation Center.
The project is being implemented by Tata Chemicals, India's biggest business conglomerate, through a subsidiary Lake Natron Resources (T) Ltd. It seeks to construct a processing factory capable of producing 500,000 metric tonnes of soda annually.
Along with the soda ash plant, the firm which owns majority shares in Magadi Soda Company aims at constructing tarmac access roads, a pipeline to carry soda slurry across the lake and accommodation for an estimated 1,225 construction workers and 152 permanent staff.
Environmentalists say that the development threatens the future of the endangered lesser flamingo and the multi-billion shilling tourism industry in the three East African countries.
The lesser flamingo which accounts for 75 per cent of the world flamingo population nests in the middle of vast salt flats on the lake and is known to be extremely sensitive to disturbance during breeding.
Lake Natron is designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.
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