Anyone against Stiegler's Gorge project will be jailed, says Minister

The deputy minister in the Vice President's Office responsible for union and environment Mr Kangi Lugola

What you need to know:

  • A paper prepared by Prof Raphael Mwalyosi from the University of Dar es Salaam's Institute of Resource Assessment in 2009 would be used as the environmental impact assessment.

Dodoma. The deputy minister in the Vice President's Office responsible for union and environment Mr Kangi Lugola said in Parliament on Tuesday that a paper prepared by Prof Raphael Mwalyosi from the University of Dar es Salaam's Institute of Resource Assessment in 2009 would be used as the environmental impact assessment for the Stiegler's Gorge hydropower project .
"For your information, the government will go on with implementation of the project whether you like it or not. Those who are resisting the project will be jailed," he said.

This came after the Minister for Energy Dr Medard Kalemani revealed in the evening Parliamentary session, that all environmental procedures will be followed before actual implementation of Stiegler's Gorge hydropower project implementation.

Dr Kalemani was responding to concerns by MPs raised earlier in the day, that the project was being implemented before the environmental impact assessment was done.
When the Parliament sat as a committee earlier, chairman Mr Job Ndugai asked the energy ministry to ensure that Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Ltd (Tanesco) puts in place mitigation plans as the implementation would involve felling of more than three million trees.