Discovery of oil and gas in Tanzania: ‘a blessing and a curse’
By Elias Mhegera – Once again Tanzanians have been warned not to think that this country is cushioned from the negative effects of ‘natural resources curse’, which is almost a global phenomenon.
a victim of pollution at North Mara
This curse also known as the ‘Dutch disease’ in economics terms is always characterized by corruption and opaqueness. In real terms it is the apparent relationship between the increase in exploitation of natural resources and a decline in the manufacturing sector.
Speaking exclusively to shout-africa.com on Saturday last week, the researcher at the Dar es Salaam based Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Apronius Mbilinyi reminded me of the old adage, that “prevention is better than cure”.
Explaining further on the features of this problem this researcher who has visited a good number of the mining centres in Tanzania mentions conflicts, segregation and laziness to other processes which follows this ‘curse’. “We have seen this happening in Nigeria, in Sudan and many other countries; we must take precaution well before hand,” he recounts.
demonstrations in Mtwara southern Tanzania
Apart from other minerals which have been in extraction from the colonial era, currently there is a wave of ‘discoveries’ in gas and oil which are always characterized with land grabbing, unfair competition and even the side effects of environmental degradation.
Moreover, he warns that “if you have an increase of income from the mining sector there is always a tendency to increase the prices for commodities in an assumption that your local currency has appreciated, this is devastative to the majority who are poor”.
Explaining further, Mbilinyi says that the problems with such an artificial boom is that even commodities which were once counted as economic goods suddenly lose their economic status, because they are no longer in the chain of production.
In late last year, and early this year 2013 there were commotions in Mtwara southern Tanzania where people demonstrated opposing transporting of oil and gas through the pipe in the pretext that construction of an industry in their area will create jobs, some deaths were reported due to these demonstrations.
Giving examples of what is happening in Nigeria and other countries in West Africa that were good producers of cocoa, he reveals that these are no longer demanded, and at times even food stuffs are imported after a total neglect of agriculture which is the mainstay of the economy in many African countries.
demonstrations in Mtwara southern Tanzania
“Natural gas and oil has made these products to be neglected, and they are no longer counted as scarce for the purposes of economization. They are simply no longer economic goods, and are no longer counted in GDP, this is a terrible mistake, we should avoid it,” he asserts.
He recounts that always these discrepancies are not noticed as they surface until when their counter-effects have simmered deep. So laziness is a byproduct of the declining manufacturing sector which is replaced by the mining sector.
He was surprised to see that Shinyanga being a rich region in resources has not attained enough developments. “In this region alone there are four potential mining sites, by Williamson Diamond, Kahama Mining, Bulyanhulu Gold Mining and Buzwagi Gold Mining but these have not changed much lifestyle of the people.” He comments.
He counsels that land disputes and other conflicts have been emanating from negligence on the part of decision makers as to how majority of the people should benefit from mining. He gives examples of Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo where competition for resources eventually led to social turmoil.
He warns that mining in Tanzania must be accompanied by a favourable tax regime which ensures that revenue collection is done properly, so that investors and the Government being the custodian of the citizenry at large benefits equally.
He revisits the recent Mtwara gas saga as being a reflection of sidelining the common people when planning for long term investments. He counsels that the Government should not wait for an overreaction like what happened in Mtwara in order to consider welfare of people surrounding the mining areas.
Mbilinyi gives examples of Botswana and Norway because of prudent utility of resources now they have guaranteed free education and other social services to their citizenry. In Botswana the foreign investors and the Government have a 50/50 percent share control of the mines.
He further warns that dependency on natural resources can bread a bad culture which can be easily removed once minerals are depleted. This call comes at a time when other professional bodies have been warning of the adverse consequences due to mining activities.
This warning by Mbilinyi is just one of the attempts from researches academicians and members of the civil society who have been warning of the impending dangers if the mining sector is not managed properly.
In August 2011 the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), warned that mining activities in many areas of Tanzania were not beneficial to old citizenry and in some cases they have just led to more sufferings than advantages.
Then director of the centre, Francis Kiwanga said that in many mining areas there are incidents of environmental degradation, human rights violation, health hazards, and inefficient support from the mining companies through their corporate social responsibility programmes.
The LHRC discovered that there was a serious problem of awareness creation to people who live closer to the mining sites. This was after it had conducted researches in Bahi, Manyoni, and Namtumbo.
The wide cry in many cases is gold mines and the newly attempt to extract uranium which has met firm resistance from various sectors. Concerning the dangers of uranium the government has always been defending that it has taken enough precaution in handling of these precious yet risky materials.
The Director of Science and Technology, Ministry of Communication Science and Technology Prof. Evelyn Mbede responding to these studies and those which were presented in one of the Policy Forum sessions last year said that her ministry has been bestowed with matters pertaining to atomic energy and she gave an assurance that the government was keen in safeguarding lives of people.
She was responding to shout-africa.com on behalf of the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) which is a regulatory and service parastatal organization of Tanzania, operating under her ministry through the Directorate of Science and Technology.
Another serious concern on natural gas and oil and was raised last year in March, 2012 during a Policy Forum debate by Cassian Lushinge, Programme Officer for Oil and Gas in the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), who said that environmental impact reports are not necessarily conclusive in themselves.
Lushinge had warned that in many African countries havocs have been happening between prospective investors and native populations due to corruption.
