Expansive Policy Rhetoric

The need for more effective environmental management mechanisms in Tanzania has been widely acknowledged. No wonder, therefore, that the omission of EIA requirements in various environmental and natural resource management legislation has been a source of considerable criticism in both the official and academic literature on natural resource management in the country. Much of this criticism has centred on the need to have effective regulatory controls in place in view of the growing importance of foreign investment in Tanzania. For instance, a 1993 analysis of the now repealed National Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 1990¹, - which, according to a prominent legal scholar, had given investors "very generous incentives and guarantees" - showed that the Act placed very minor obligations on the investor (Peter, 1993: 57). No obligation was, for example, placed on the investor to clean up the environment if his venture were to be found to have caused environmental degradation or pollution (loc. cit.).

Likewise, commenting on the impact of macro-economic policies adopted by the Government of Tanzania since mid 1980s, a National Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Development (NCSSD) prepared by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) singled out privatization and encouragement of foreign investors as having substantial, if indirect, impact on the environment (NEMC, 1995:22). It noted, taking leaf from the Report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters (Tanzania, 1994) that one of the tendencies which have gathered considerable momentum in recent years is the alienation and allocation of rural and village lands to outsiders, thus subjecting the lands to intensive uses for short-term gain.

The NCSSD document further observed that the trend away from direct state involvement in economic activity which has obviously stimulated economic growth has, however, not been replaced with effective regulatory framework which could allow market forces to work effectively while safeguarding certain national interests such as environmental quality and equitable income distribution (op. cit., 22-3). It further observed that the absence of a legal regime for EIA in the planning processes was one of the "legal issues of national concern", noting that "without a mandatory EIA process, no obligation exists to assess and monitor the effects of projects and government activities on the environment" (op. cit., 26). It, therefore, urged the promotion of EIA methodology in the planning and implementation processes of all relevant ministries regulating government activities as well as private investment, especially the Investment Promotion Centre (IPC, now known as TIC) "where most investment projects are scrutinized" (op. cit., 41). In addition, it proposed the creation of a legal regime requiring mandatory EIA of major development projects with significant impacts on the environment, with the EIA procedures requiring cross-sectoral consultation in specific cases of government decision-making (op.cit., 42).

Almost a year earlier, the Government had come up with a National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) which was touted as 'a first step' in making the fundamental changes needed to bring environmental considerations into the mainstream of decision-making in our country (see foreword by Minister of Tourism, Natural Resources and Environment, MTNRE, 1994:iv). The NEAP, dubbed as the outcome of "distillation of lessons and thoughts on environment and development from a national perspective", gave recognition to environmental impact assessment as one of the "priority instruments" of environmental policy (op. cit., 25). In surprisingly candid and forthright terms, this document condemned environmental legislation in Tanzania as being "obsolete", with few statutes containing requirements for public participation in environmental management, public right to enforce the laws, legal requirements for management planning with an emphasis on long-term sustainability of resources, environmental impact assessment and standards and licensing schemes for appropriate behaviour (op. cit., 30). The NEAP also urged the incorporation of EIA approaches into all aspects of planning and decision-making. Arguing that successful implementation of the environmental policy and action plan required finding the right balance between the environmental constraints and the need for human action, this document proposed the incorporation of EIA requirements "for all major projects with a significant impact on the natural and human environment" (ibid., 42).

The foregoing concerns are reflected in the National Environmental Policy which was passed in December 1997 (Tanzania, 1997a). The latter has recognized the importance of EIA as a planning tool to integrate environmental considerations in decision-making process in order to ensure that unnecessary damage to the environment is avoided (op. cit., para. 65). It has, furthermore, proclaimed the need for making EIA processes a mandatory requirement "to ensure that environmental concerns receive due and balanced consideration in reconciling urgent development needs and long-term sustainability" (op. cit., para. 65). The policy has, in addition, promised the formulation of requisite guidelines and specific criteria for conducting EIA processes as part of the strategies to implement the policy (op. cit., para. 66). The cornerstone of these processes, according to the Policy, will be the institution of the mechanisms for public consultations and public hearings in the EIA procedures (op. cit., para. 66).

1. No. 10 of 1990