Sh300m police station to be built in tourist transit zone

Ngorongoro. A police station at Sale Village is expected to be constructed at the cost of Sh300 million and will be completed within a year in a bid to curb crime in the area.

District Commissioner Rashid Taka has warned residents that the government won’t have any mercy for people who fuel insecurity in the area which is visited by thousands of tourists each year.

He issued the warning at the weekend during activities to mark the 40th anniversary of the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) at Sale Village.

He urged residents to improve security and to speed up the construction of the police station. He cited Sale, Mdito and Masusu villages as areas most affected by banditry and stressing that state organs would crack down criminals.

The villages are also used as transit routes by tourists and researchers heading to Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Although no fatal attacks on tourists have been reported in recent years, Mr Taka said there had been incidents of them being ambushed and robbed.

Remarks made by the DC were echoed by Sale councillor Jeremiah Segoyani who said:

“Ngorongoro residents need to support the government in fighting criminals who are bent on tarnishing the image of the district which depends on the tourism for revenues to implement many of its development projects.”

Speaking during the laying of the foundation stone for the proposed police station, Ngorongoro CCM chairman Ibrahim Sakai, criticised the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism for its apparent failure to resolve a long simmering land conflicts within the Loliondo Game-Controlled Area.