200 tusks seized, MPs decry illegal hunting

2007-07-26 10:03:51
By Patrick Kisembo in Dar and Judica Tarimo, Dodoma


Police in Dar es Salaam are holding a person they say was found in possession of 223 elephant tusks.

Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Jamal Rwambow yesterday named the man as Hamidu Hassan, saying the arrest was made on Tuesday at Kimara Kirungule on the city`s western outskirts.

The development came as legislators now assembled in Dodoma for the National Assembly`s annual Budget meeting spat fire over reports of gross violation of hunting laws by both Tanzanians and foreigners and called for immediate intervention by the government to arrest the situation.

RPC Rwambow hinted that the tusks were harvested from 112 elephants killed by poachers and were being specially packed for export.

?The tusks were seized in a house belonging to David Ismail, who was not around by the time the police went there.

Hassan was found packing carefully cut pieces of the tusks in special boxes but when we interrogated him he said he was not the owner of the business,`` Rwambow pointed out.

He said a police search also uncovered another haul of elephant tusks buried along a fence to the same house, adding:
``The only suspect in our hands so far is Hamidu Hassan, who says he is 49 years old.``

The value of the tusks had not been established because they were yet to be taken to the relevant authorities for expert assessment and evaluation, he explained, noting that the suspect would be taken to court ``as soon as practicable`` in connection with the incident.

Asked how they came to arrest Hassan, the RPC said it was through community policing that the police got wind of what was taking place in the area ?and we swiftly but cautiously swung into action``.

The tusks impounded were still lying at Mbezi Kwa Yussuf Police station by late evening yesterday.

In June last year two consignments with a total of 350 pieces of elephant tusks were seized in Kaohsiung, Republic of Korea.

The tusks, valued at $3,100,778, were later traced as having originated from the Dar es Salaam port. They were packed in 18 boxes, loaded in a container and shipped to Korea.

Meanwhile, yesterday?s outcry by Members of Parliament came as they were contributing to debate on the 2007/2008 budget estimates of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.

The House Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment said hunting companies were blatantly flouting laws governing hunting blocks.

``Some hunters are going about their otherwise lawful business completely contrary to the conditions stipulated in the permits they are given.

Some hunting companies export trophies illegally,`` said Special Seats legislator Lucy Mayenga, when tabling the committee?s official views.

Most MPs who addressed the matter called on the government to take stringent measures against hunters and hunting companies breaching the laws, rules and regulations guiding professional hunting in the country.

They further urged the government to mount intensive investigations into the massive illegal hunting said to be going on in the country and take appropriate deterrent measures.

The House committee appealed to Natural Resources and Tourism minister Jumanne Maghembe and his subordinates to speed up the ongoing review of the national legislation on wildlife management.

It recommended that the revised legislation incorporate more effective structures and mechanisms of putting the misuse of wildlife resources in check.

?We still emphasize that the government should set up a special agency to deal with all hunting-related activities.

The move would allow the ministry?s Wildlife Department more room to concentrate on policy and legal issues, including the management of protected areas, game reserves and national parks,? said the committee in the report presented by legislator Mayenga.

In its official remarks, the opposition camp in the House decried what it called palpable lack of transparency and seriousness in the allocation of hunting blocks to local and foreign dealers.

?The revised version of the Wildlife management Act of 1974 should give indigenous Tanzanians top priority in the running of the country?s professional hunting sector,? Mkoani MP Ali Seif, the camp`s spokesperson on the sector, submitted.

Some legislators charged that the government had endlessly embraced foreign investors in the management of the tourism sector, ignoring local players ``who contribute greatly to the sector?s development``.

They noted that tourism remains one of the country?s foreign exchange earners.

Vunjo legislator Aloyce Kimaro said Tanzanian porters and guides who routinely assist tourists in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro receive ?peanuts? despite the huge amount of foreign exchange generated in the process.

?In 1984, 2005 and 2006 expeditions on the mountain earned the country about 10bn/-, 14.2bn/, and 14bn/-, respectively, but very little went to these poor youths,? he pointed out.

?The government should work out modalities to ensure that these youths are well paid by the tour operators, who usually run the companies by remote control from Europe or the US,? he added.

?What kind of empowerment are we, leaders, talking about if youths who earn the country huge amounts of foreign currency are not supported,? the MP queried.

In their submissions, legislators Lucy Owenya and James Lembeli called on the government to increase the budgetary allocation to the Tanzania Tourist Board to enhance its capacity to market the country?s tourist potential overseas and assist indigenous Tanzanians keen to invest in tourism.

?The funds the government has been allocating to the TTB are a joke. The board cannot publicize our tourism effectively enough with such a meagre amount,? said Owenya.

You are certainly not going to effectively publicize tourism by chasing off potential tourists with outrageous fees. Ya can't eat your cake and have it too.

Dutch

just sittin' in the gutter thinkin' up ingenious answers to non-extistent problems.

It's all Monkey Shines just to grab the money, and as much of it as they can stuff into their deep pockets. These "ministers" could benefit by hiring a few intelligent wildlife managers to deal with hunting and conservation issues. This would free up these politicians, I mean rocket scientist's so they could take their Smoke and Mirrors show on the road...to Vaudeville.