Local investor’s $ 35m luxury lodge project hangs in the balance

[Geza Ulole]

Local investor’s $ 35m luxury lodge project hangs
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By Arusha Times Correspondent​

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An Arusha-based local investor has complained to the government and its agencies over his stalled project to construct a $ 35 million luxury lodge near the Ngorongoro Crater.

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Vincent Laswai, the managing director and proprietor of Kibo Palace Hotel based in Arusha said recently he had acquired 10 acres in 2006 to construct the facility but he had not secured a permit to go ahead from the relevant authorities.

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"I have been given a greenlight by the local people and the village government but my plans have stalled and I don't know who is stopping us from going ahead with the project", he said in an interview.

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His firm intended to construct a modern lodge at Nainokanoka village, about 20 kilometres north of the Ngorongoro crater in order to tap the huge tourism potential of the Ngorongoro highlands.

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"I got land with the blessing of the villagers and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) and was also cleared by the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) but strangely I am yet to get greenlight to proceed with implementation of the project", he pointed out.

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Mr. Laswai, who operates a chain of businesses in Tanzania and Kenya, said neither NCAA nor the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism were categorical on reasons why they are still hesitant to allow construction of the lodge at Nainokanoka.

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"NCAA says it is the ministry which is delaying the project. The ministry on its part says we have to meet certain conditions governing the conservation area. I don't know which side is correct", he stated.

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The businessman added that at one time his project was cleared by the Parliamentary Committee on Lands, Natural Resources and Environment headed by the Kahama MP James Lembeli.
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"The minister (Lazaro Nyalandu) is also aware of this", he explained.​

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When contacted over the issue, the communication manager with NCAA Mr. Adam Akyoo said he was not aware of the stalled lodge project since investment matters do not fall directly under him.​

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However, he explained that all the development projects within the 8,292 square kilometre Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) were guided by the General Management Plan (GMP) prepared by experts and endorsed by the Board of Trustees.​

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He added that although investors were welcome to put up lodges and other facilities within the conservation area, there are specific areas where no type of human development is allowed because of their ecology.​

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These include areas within and close to the crater and its rim and other sites in the famous Ngorongoro which are considered to be ecologically fragile to increased human activities.​

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Efforts to reach out the Conservator Dr. Fred Manongi to comment on the issue were fruitless.​

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But during its last visit to NCA, the Parliamentary team led by the Kahama legislator was quoted as saying it was not in favour of construction of lodges at Layanai area near the crater and which is said to be the corridor for the endangered rhinocerous.​

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He argued that the committee was not against construction of accommodation facilties which can attract more visitors to the area but that there were other suitable sites for the construction of hotels, lodges and luxury camps but not within or close to the crater.

Untitled Document

MY TAKE
Hivi bureaucracy kama hizi zinatusidiaje? Au kwa vile investment hii inatoka kwa Mweusi mwenzetu? Maana Muarabu wa Bilila alipewa ruksa kujenga Serengeti kwa kiasi kama hicho hicho cha investment kinachotaka kutumika na Mtanzania mwenzetu! Hii nchi inasikitisha! Kama hakuruhusiwi kujengwa hapo alipoomba basi wampe pale wanaporuhusu humo kwenye crater​

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[candygrapez]

hii nchi inakatisha tamaa sana,sijui tutafika wapi kwa longo longo hizi.
Na ndo maana hata watu wenye mitaji mikubwa bado wamekazana na umachinga wa kununua na kuuza bidhaa za china sababu ukifkiria kufanya investiment ya maana bongo ,ndo mwanzo wa mwisho wako.
INASIKITISHA SANA

 

[amkawewe]

Very sad indeed.

Pamoja na unemployment issue ilivyo serikali inaacha opportunities kama hizi

 

[Misterdennis]

ingekuwa ni foreigner, tena a white, mbona angeshapewa siku nyingi sana..

 

[BONGOLALA]

Yaani huwa nasikia kinyaa watawala jinsi wanavyosema raia tuwekeze sii wageni tuu wakati huo huo kuna ukiritimba wa hali ya juu ktk taasisi za serikali kwa watu weusi.Laswai ingia ubia na Ridhwan watakupa kibali ndani ya wiki

 

[Geza Ulole]

Kikwete ‘stops’ hotels in Ngorongoro

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By MARC NKWAME,
April 23 11:542014

President Jakaya Kikwete has directed that there should be no more construction of hotels in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), urging interested investors to put up their structures in Karatu Township instead.

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President Jakaya Kikwete (third right) cuts a ribbon to officially open the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) offices in Karatu District, Arusha Region. He is flanked by Karatu MP, Reverend Israeli Natse (third left), the Minister for Water, Prof Jumanne Maghembe (second left), the TRA Director of Human Resources and Administration, Mr Abubakar Kunenge (second right), Arusha Regional Commissioner, Mr Magesa Mulongo (left) and a TRA representative in the region, Ms Caroline Ntinku.

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Addressing thousands of people from Karatu, Ngorongoro and Mto-wa-Mbu area who gathered at Mazingira Bora Grounds in Karatu, Mr Kikwete pointed out that the 50 properties currently operating within the NCA were enough.

The president’s decision is likely to please green activists and other environmentalists around the globe, including the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), that had previously raised alarm over increasing human activities in the NCA.

Ngorongoro Crater National Park which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), is the country’s most visited tourist attraction, attracting over 500,000 visitors per annum. Tanzania’s annual tourist traffic averages one million.

“To preserve the environment as well as the crater’s international status as world heritage site, the government will not permit the construction of new hotels or lodges in the conservation area and anybody who wants to set up such properties should now think of acquiring land in Karatu,” President Kikwete said amid applause.

The president was of the view that in line with the decision, it is also high time Karatu got its well-deserved status as a tourist centre; in that tourists would stop over in the township while on their way to and from Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Lake Manyara national parks.“Karatu already has modern and attractive hotels, but we want more such properties to be built here so that tourists may even choose to simply come and spend their time in the township,” Mr Kikwete remarked.

He also stated that the government will expand the Lake Manyara Airstrip so that more aircraft could land there, thus boosting tourism in the conservation area.

The area’s Member of Parliament, Reverend Israel Natse, praised the Kikwete administration, saying that even though Karatu was an opposition (Chadema) stronghold, the president was still in the forefront in ensuring that development projects in the district were executed timely.

“We very much acknowledge the fact that even though Chadema is in control of Karatu, CCM was governing the country,” said Reverend Natse, who reminded the head of state about the latter’s promise to tarmac Karatu roads.

The president assured Rev. Natse that the government was still committed to upgrading roads inside Karatu Township, to bituminous standards for a total distance of 10 kilometres, in addition to the initial plan to surface two kilometres.

The Karatu District Commissioner (DC), Mr Felix Daudi Ntibenda, told the president that when it came to security, Karatu topped all other districts for being the safest place one could ever be in, adding that the fact alone was the most viable component in reinforcing the area’s position as a tourist hub.

http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/30632-kikwete-no-more-hotels-in-ngorongoro

MY TAKE
Mkulu kashindilia msumari wa mwisho ngoja tuone kama hili tamko lake litafuatiliwa au ni kwa wale Watanzania tu!