Makamba: The desert threat is deepening
The minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba, presents proposals for its income and expenditure as part of the 2010|17 nationalbudget in Dodoma yesterday. PHOTO | EMMANUEL HERMAN
What you need to know:
- Mr Makamba said the wave of massive pollution is also apparent on water sources and catchment areas, adding that already, the effects of the pollution were being experienced in the country
Dodoma. The Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba, warned yesterday that 61 per cent of the country was under threat of turning into a desert due to ongoing massive environmental pollution.
Mr Makamba is asking Parliament to approve his office’s 2016/17 budget estimates totaling to Sh24.03 billion. The minister told the National Assembly that the country was losing an average of one million acres of forests, and for the last decade, the area lost was equivalent to the entire size of neighbouring Rwanda.
“The problem is largely caused by the high demand of forest products as the main source of energy. Over 90 per cent of energy consumed in the country is from forests, Dar es Salaam alone is consuming between 200,000 and 300,000 bags of charcoal daily, with average weight of 50kg each,” he said.
Mr Makamba said the wave of massive pollution is also apparent on water sources and catchment areas, adding that already, the effects of the pollution were experienced in the country with fluctuations with rain patterns and an increase in the intensity of heat.
“ A study shows that, when rain drops by 10 per cent, the national income generated through agriculture drops by two per cent, and when the heat increases by two centigrade, maize and rice harvests drops by 13 per cent and 17 per cent respectively,” he said.
He said to combat the situation, the government has launched a tree planting campaign across the country with a target of planting 1.5 million trees per annum and empowering the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) to curb various types of pollution.
“In 2014/15, over 264 million trees were planted and about 211 million of them have survived and are picking up well. We will continue to provide NEMC with technical and financial support to be in the frontline of this war; we have no choice but winning the war and save our country from catastrophes.”
Meanwhile, the opposition camp’s spokesperson for Environment and Babati Rural MP Pauline Gekul, called for a special audit by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) on a global warming adaptation project. According to her, in 2011 the Washington-based Global Environmental Facility (GEF) gave Tanzania $3.3 million to fund the project in Bagamoyo, Rufiji, Pangani and Zanzibar.
