Lake Natron Soda Ash Project: Many express reservations at public meeting

The National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) held a public meeting on 23rd January 2008 at the Karimjee Hall in Dar es Salaam to seek public opinions and written submissions on the Natron Soda Ash Project proposed by Lake Natron Resources Limited. The meeting was quite well attended with over 100 people present at various points during the proceedings. Many people expressed substantial reservations about the project development proposal since many thought the ESIA to be incomplete. Contributions from people against the development of the project or expressing strong reservations, centered around these points:

• the incompleteness of the ESIA, particularly in terms of:

Ecological:

- moving the factory site out of the RAMSAR area from Wosiwosi (on the north-east shore) to Gelai Village creating the need for a new component to the ESIA;

- the lack of information in the ESIA and appropriate components in the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) about hydrology - both in terms of minimising impacts on the Lake, and in sourcing a sustainable and sufficient supply of water for the project without negative impacts to other water users and ecosystems;

- the continued risk of unknown and unexpected adverse impacts on the Lesser Flamingo from industrial activity, particularly given the complexity of the ecosystem;

- the fact that major components of the project's planning appear to be incomplete, necessitating further ESIA work before the project can be properly assessed. Reservations were expressed over issues such as a lack of clarity over how the soda ash is to be extracted from the lake, insufficiently developed and detailed monitoring and evaluation within the EMP, and only recent clarity over plans for infrastructure and transport links (a rail link from Arusha and a service road link westwards from Longido).

Socio-economic:

- the observation (by village representatives) that local communities had not been sufficiently consulted or included in the planning process;

- insufficient recognition in the ESIA about the legal framework and process - particularly in regards to the transfer and allocation of village land for the factory without the prior consultation and assent of the village(s) concerned;

- negative impact on all forms of tourism - particularly in the vicinity of the factory and its infrastructure;

- the lack of assessment about and the potential for local employment and local benefits.

• a lack of information on the cost-benefit analysis of the project - in terms of community interests, Tanzania's interests, the region's interest (ecosystem services for the tourism industry) and the global interest (ecosystem services for the tourism industry, existence value, increased soda ash supply).

Contributions from people in favour of the project centered on the following points:

• the utility of Sodium Carbonate as a base chemical for many industrial processes;
• the growing demand for Sodium Carbonate within Tanzania and globally;
• the increasing uncertainty of the Sodium Carbonate supply from Kenya;
• the need for re-developing the infrastructure of the Tanga - Arusha corridor and the economic development this is likely to bring - particularly in terms of increasing the viability of several major industrial projects;
• the likely benefits in terms of communications, health and education that the Soda Ash Project development will bring local communities (although these have been improving already from locally growing tourism revenue).

TNRF facilitated 12 village representatives to attend the public meeting from Pinyinyi, Engaresero, Matale, Gelai Lumbwa and Gelai Meirugoi villages. TNRF would like to acknowledge the kind support of Sand County Foundation, Friedkin Conservation Foundation and the Bird Life International for helping cover the costs of this delegation. It is understood that the RAMSAR Secretariat will be arriving in Tanzania early next month on a mission to review the status of the Soda Ash project development at Natron in relation to its status as a RAMSAR site. For further information on the Lake Natron Soda Ash project and ESIA, please click here