The Citizen News
Posted Date:: 03.03.2008 @00:00 EAT

Govt faces Sh12bn loss in hunting fees u-turn

By Mkinga Mkinga and Samuel Kamndaya

The Government stands to lose a total of Sh11.5 billion ($9.8 million) during the 2008 hunting season, The Citizen has learnt.

The move follows the decision to slash hunting fees by 54 per cent to $27,000 per season.

As a result, the Government will now collect about Sh21.2billion ($18 million), down from an earlier projection of Sh32.8billion ($27.8 million) from hunting this season.

The Government had earlier increased hunting fees to $50,000 per season for a single hunting block, sparking an outcry from the hunting fraternity.

The Safari hunting season in Tanzania begins on July 1 and ends on December 31. These are mainly dry months although some rain may be expected in November and December.

Safari hunting in Tanzania is on the basis of packages lasting 10, 16 and 21 days.

Natural Resources and Tourism minister Shamsa Mwangunga said the Government decided to reduce hunting fees following pressure from members of the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association (Tahoa).

Tahoa members have been maintaining that the 500 per cent fee increase announced by former Natural Resources and Tourism minister Jumanne Maghembe is ?outrageous and unrealistic?.

Following the demands, the two parties met twice and agreed to reduce the fees to levels that would bring about a win-win situation, Mrs Mwangunga said.

?The first meeting was between former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa and hunting stakeholders while the second was between Prof Maghembe and the hunters.

?In both meetings, it was agreed that the fees be reduced with the new rates taking effect in July, this year,? she said.

She, however, noted that there were some hunters who said they could operate profitably with the fees announced last year.

On the other hand, there were those who said they would have to close shop if the rates were not reduced.

This prompted the Government to delay collecting the new fees, which were to have taken effect on July 1, last year, to January 2008, according to director of wildlife Erasmus Tarimo.

?We started fees under the new rates on January 25, 2008 because we had to finalise discussions first,? he said in a telephone interview.

Mrs Mwangunga said just four of the 56 registered hunting companies actually paid the new fees, while 36 only said they had accepted the new rates. The rest rejected the revised fees outright.

Faced with resistance from hunting companies, the Government decided to conduct a survey on hunting in African countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
?It was from this study that we came up with the new rates,? Mrs Mwangunga said.

She noted, however, that the $18 million expected to be collected this season was $3.2 million more than the $14.8 million collected in the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

When tabling the ministry's 2007/8 budget estimates in Parliament last year, Prof Maghembe announced tough new measures aimed at strengthening controls over dwindling wildlife resources and boosting the hunting industry's overall contribution to the country's economy.

Under the new rates, the trophy fee for hunting a lion was raised to $12,000 (about Sh15.6 million) from $2,500 (Sh3.25 million).

Furthermore, hunters were required to pay $15,000 (about 19.5 million) to kill an elephant, up from the previous fee of $5,000 (Sh6.5 million).

Also revised upwards were licence fees for lucrative hunting blocks, which rose to $50,000 (about 65million) from $10,000 (about 13million).

But after discussions and consultations, it was agreed that the fee to kill a lion should be reduced to $4,900, a decrease of $7,100 from the rate announced by Prof Maghembe. It is, however, $2,400 above the rate that was being paid before last year?s revision.

Likewise, it now costs $7,500, $12,000 and $20,000 to hunt an elephant depending on the size and weight of the animal being hunted.

License fees for lucrative hunting blocks, now stand at $27,000 per hunting season ? this being $17,000 more than the previous level and $23,000 less than the level announced by Prof Maghembe in the national assembly.

Tanzania has over 130 hunting concessions covering an area in excess of 200,000 square kilometres that are leased to licenced firms.

More than 60 species of animals in the country can be killed by licenced hunters.

On construction of hotels close to tourist sites, Mrs Mwangunga said her ministry would go ahead with their development despite criticism from other stakeholders.

To begin with, a five-star hotel is being built in Serengeti National Park. The aim, she said, was to make Tanzania the hub of tourism in East Africa.

Commenting on the effects of building an airport and a five-star hotel in Serengeti National Park, Mrs Mwangunga said an environmental impact assessment had been conducted before the projects were given the go-ahead.

?Before reaching the decision, we first had to discuss the impact of the projects, and decided to ho ahead after establishing the pros and cons associated with the construction,? she said.

My 07 Tanzania safari was almost cancelled as a result of the governmental nonsense. These people could screw up a wet dream. TZ is now out of my price range, and my safari dollar goes elsewhere. Good economic planning on their part.

BN

Tanzania is now reserved only for the gentry.

Jeff

Ahhhh the logic of greedy people

I guess the concepts of supply and demand and elasticity are beyond their comprehension.

Brice- You're absolutely correct. The TZ Gov't assumed that X amount of hunters were coming to hunt TZ regardless, so why not double and triple all the costs. Most of us have been outpriced by this, and instead of steadily generating the revenue at the old prices, they've made us switch countries and/or continents. And what does that do for the people, outfitters and game? No hunters, no money, nothing. Look at Kenya. IMHO, TZ is not far behind. Simply childish. I, for one, am glad I got to see the Selous once....

BN

quote:

Originally posted by Brice:
I guess the concepts of supply and demand and elasticity are beyond their comprehension.

Socialists never understand such economic concepts.

-Bob F.

Buffalo hunts in TZ are going to be so expensive that you could shoot two of the big five in other countries for the same money. Crazy. I love TZ, but that's pushing it.