INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS TO PROVIDING ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

The way Tanzania's environmental institutions are configured and tasked also makes it difficult for citizens to gain access to information. For example, it is not clear which part of the government or which agencies have responsibility for environmental monitoring and compliance. Each government department or ministry handles its own projects, including all environmental matters. These activities are not well coordinated with either the National Environmental Management Council or the Division of Environment. In fact, there is considerable overlap and, at times, even open conflict between and within government departments. As such, there is no single government source of environmental and natural resource information for the public. With no central repository for environmental information, the public must make requests to multiple sources to get all relevant information.

The NEMC was established by Parliament to create environmental management policies and make recommendations to the government regarding implementation (GOT, 1983). The NEMC has the responsibility of coordinating the activities of all bodies concerned with environmental matters and serving as a channel of communication between these bodies and the government. It is also responsible for stimulating public and private participation in natural resource management programs and activities. This includes developing and operating an information system for storing and disseminating information related to the environment, and promoting general environmental education programs to create enlightened public opinion on the environment. NEMC is now in the Office of the Vice President.

The Division of Environment was created within the then Ministry of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment, but was recently shifted with the NEMC to the office of the Vice President and charged with the day-to-day supervision of environmental matters. The Division's lack of clear guidelines has resulted in overlapping responsibilities with the NEMC. It has also set off an intense institutional struggle between these two government agencies as to which oversees environmental issues in Tanzania. Problems between the NEMC and the Division have constrained environmental management. For example, the preparation and approval of the Tanzania National Environmental Policy was delayed. To complicate matters, there is now also a Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism with a mandate that partly overlaps with those of the NEMC and Division of Environment.

Despite their coordinating responsibilities, even the NEMC and the Division of Environment have difficulty gaining access to environmental information from other parts of the government, including line ministries and departments and local governments. This includes information on projects such as the Songosongo gas project and Rufiji prawn-farming project, but also extends to other matters such as the granting of hunting concessions and privatization of land-based parastatal organizations. The Parastatal Sector Reform Commission can privatize a parastatal organization that controls land through which a wildlife migration route passes without informing either the NEMC or the Division of Environment.