TANZANIAN EXPERIENCE

Case 2. The Rufiji River Delta Prawn Plantation Project

The Rufiji Delta is East Africa's largest contiguous mangrove forest, as it covers over 53,000 hectares. A private enterprise, the African Fishing Company (AFC), was granted permission to establish what has been described as the world's largest prawn plantation in the Rufiji Delta. Prawn farming involves converting mangrove forests to open ponds in which the prawns are raised. In addition to destroying the mangroves, a rich and important ecological resource, the prawn farms are likely to generate pollution that further degrades the environment. A large population is also highly dependent on the natural resource base in the Delta.

Though the media and public eventually learned of this project, it was reported that the government withheld information from the public during project design (Lissu, 1999). As a result of internal and international pressure, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was prepared by proponents of the project at the expense of AFC and submitted to the government in May 1996. Because of the controversy surrounding the project and the first EIA, the government required that the AFC conduct a second EIA, which was submitted to the government in April 1997. The second EIA caused even more controversy as one of its authors claimed the report had been falsified. The government then directed the National Environmental Management Council (NEMC) to review the second EIA study. NEMC found that the AFC assessment contained numerous errors, omissions and misrepresentations. The review also found that there was no budget for compensating displaced residents and that the AFC proposed importing arms and ammunition worth US$570,000 for project security. Nevertheless, the government approved the project (Lissu, 1999).

Following numerous efforts to engage the government and AFC in discussions to shape the project, a locally registered NGO opened a representative suit against both the government and the AFC in September 1998. On 14 April 1999, the High Court of Tanzania issued an interim order restraining all AFC development activity regarding prawn plantation establishment in the Rufiji Delta pending the determination of the NGO petition. That petition will have a hearing on 27 May 1999.

These two case studies and other Tanzanian experiences make it clear that the government does not always generate or release important environmental information to the public. They also show that when the public gains access to such information, formally or informally, or generates new independent information, the government does not always consider public concerns and interests.