JIUNGE KATIKA SIKU YA BLOGU

Tarehe 15/10/2009 ni siku ya blogu duniani, ambapo mwaka huu mjadala unahusu mabadiliko ya tabianchi (Climate Change).
Katika blogu hii nimekuwa nikiandika mada mbalimbali kuhusu masuala ya mazingira, mabadiliko ya tabia nchi na matumizi ya nishati mbadala, kwa hiyo siku hii ni mwafaka sana katika kupigia debe suala na kupambana na mabadiliko ya tabia nchi!

Kwa habari zaidi unaweza kutembelea hapa

NAFASI ZA MASOMO YA NISHATI

NAFASI YA MASOMO ya MTANDAONI- BURE
Ndugu msomaji wa makala katika blogu hii, kama wewe unajishughulisha na masuala ya nishati na mazingira unakaribishwa kusoma kozi ya masuala hayo ambayo inaitwa "Energy for Sustainable Development (E4SD)" au kwa Kiswahili "Nishati kwa Maendeleo Endelevu", kwa njia ya mtandao (e-learning), hivyo huhitaji kusafiri kwenda popote kusoma zaidi ya kuwa na mtandao wa intaneti karibu nawe. kozi hii ya masuala ya nishati na mazingira imeandaliwa kwa ushirikiano kati ya 'International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics' (IIIEE), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Development Programme (UNEP)na the Global
Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD).

MALENGO YA KOZI
Malengo ya kozi hii ni kutoa elimu kwa upana zaidi juu ya uhusiano uliopo kati ya masuala ya nishati na maendeleo endelevu kwa nchi zinazoendelea.

MUDA WA KOZI
Kozi hii itaendeshwa mtandaoni kuanzia tarehe 20/04/2009 hadi tarehe 14/06/2009 na maombi yatumwe katika anuani itakayotolewa hapa chini kabla ya tarehe 06/04/2009.

MAOMBI
Tuma Maombi yako ya Kushiriki kwa kutumia barua pepe iliyopo hapa chini kwa:
Project coordinator E4SD Online Course
International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE)
Lund University, Sweden
Phone: 0046 46 222 02 55
Fax: 0046 46 222 02 10
Post: P.O. Box 196, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
E-mail: katsiaryna.paulavets@e4sd.org
Web: http://www.iiiee.lu.se
Web: http://www.e4sd.org

Kwa taarifa zaidi tembelea tovuti yao katika www.e4sd.org

MMOMONYOKO KATIKA DARAJA

Picha zikionyesha mmomonyoko wa udongo katika daraja, eneo la Interchick katika barabara ya Bagamoyo, Dar Es Salaam. Mmomonyoko huu usipodhibitiwa unaweza kuleta athari katika daraja hili na barabara kwa ujumla.

UTETEZI WA MRADI WA MAGADI UNAENDELEA...

Magadi ya Ziwa Natron changamoto ya uchumi
Na Amana Nyembo
MRADI wa uchimbaji magadi katika Ziwa Natroni, mkoani Arusha, ni moja ya miradi ya viwanda ambayo serikali imeipa Shirika la Taifa la Maendeleo (NDC) jukumu la kuuendeleza kwa ubia na sekta binafsi.
Mbali na uchimbaji wa magadi, miradi mingine ni uchimbaji wa makaa ya mawe, umeme wa Mchuchuma na chuma cha Liganga - yote ikiwa Arusha.
Akizungumza hivi karibuni Dar es Salaam, Mkurugenzi Mwendeshaji wa NDC, Gideon Nasari, anasema mradi huo utakuwa na faida kwa Watanzania, kinyume kabisa na madai ya wanaharakati kuwa utaharibu korongo (flamingoes), ndege maarufu waishio huko.
Nasari anasema mradi huo utasaidia kuvutia utalii na kuwafanya wananchi wa eneo hilo kufaidika zaidi na baadhi ya miundombinu itakayotengenezwa, kwani hauwezi kuharibu mazalia ya korongo. Wamelichunguza hilo baada ya kutathmini na kutilia maanani mawazo na hofu za wadau.
Kwa sababu waendelezaji wa mradi wameamua kuhamisha eneo la kiwanda lililopangwa kwenda kilometa 32 kutoka Natron na eneo oevu (ramsar site) upande wa mashariki wa ziwa hilo.
Kiwanda kitakuwa mbali na Natron, kwani mazalio ya korongo yapo upande wa kaskazini na kusini sehemu ambayo ndege hao hawatajua nini kinafanyika upande mwingine.
“Hakutakuwa na njia yoyote ya usumbufu kwa korongo hao muhimu na wazuri…si hivyo tu, lakini kuwapo kwa shughuli za wanadamu eneo hilo kutasaidia kuwafukuza wanyama wengine wanyemeleaji,” anasema.
Akizungumzia mfumo wa kemikali katika ziwa hilo, Nasari anasema magadi kutoka ziwani yatavutwa kwa pampu kilometa 32 hadi kwenye mtambo ambako asilimia 23 ya magadi itatolewa na yanayobaki yatarudishwa ziwani.
“Kiwango cha malighafi ya magadi (brine) kitakachovunwa kwa mwaka ni sawa asilimia 0.12 ya jumla ya magadi yote yatakayoingia ziwani kwa mwaka, na hakutakuwa na mabadiliko makubwa yatakayoharibu viumbe hai (cyanobackeria) ziwani humo.
Hata hivyo, anaeleza kuwa mradi huo katika kiwanda hautachukua maji kutoka vyanzo vyovyote vinavyopeleka maji ziwani, kwani mradi una mpango wa kufanya uchunguzi wa kina kuhusu vyanzo vingine vya maji safi na salama kwa ajili matumizi ya binadamu na kiwandani.
“Inatarajiwa kwamba kitachimbwa kisima chenye kina cha mita 100 umbali wa kilometa 30 kutoka ziwani bila kuharibu mfumo wa mazingira…ujenzi wa kiwanda hicho utawahakikishia wananchi maji safi na salama kwa matumizi yao na mifugo,” anasema.
Hata hivyo, mradi wa Ziwa Natron unakisiwa kugharimu dola milioni 450 za Kimarekani, gharama ambazo zinajumuisha kiwanda cha kusindika magadi, pia kijiji cha wafanyakazi wa kiwanda hicho na uimarishaji wa miundombinu na mifumo yake.
Anaeleza miundombinu hiyo ni pamoja na ujenzi wa barabara ya Longido hadi Natron na reli ya Arusha kupitia Natron sehemu ya kiwanda.
“Kutakuwa pia na njia ya kusafirisha umeme kutoka Arusha hadi eneo la kiwanda, lakini pia upanuzi wa Bandari ya Tanga na uimarishaji wa reli ya Tanga hadi Arusha utafanyika,” anasisistiza.
Mradi wa magadi kwa kuanzia utazalisha tani 50,000 za magadi na baadaye kuongezeka hadi tani 100,000 kwa mwaka. Kutokana na kuwapo kwa kiwanda hicho, nafasi za ajira ya kudumu zinatarajiwa kupatikana 500 na nyingine ambazo si za kudumu ni nafasi 2,000.
Anasema mradi huo unatarajiwa kuingiza faida ya dola 300 kwa mwaka kutokana na mauzo ya magadi yanayotoka katika Ziwa Natron.
Kuhusu uharibifu wa mazingira katika eneo hilo, anasema shughuli zote zitakazofanyika kwenye mradi zitaongozwa kwa mapendekezo na maelekezo ya taarifa za tathmini ya kimazingira na kijamii (environmental and social Impact assessment) kama ilivyopitishwa na serikali ya Tanzania.
Anasema hiyo ina maana kila tahadhari itachukuliwa kuhakikisha hakuna uharibifu wowote wa mfumo mpana wa mazingira.
Nasari anafafanua kwamba wananchi waishio katika eneo la mradi watapata nishati ya umeme na hivyo kupunguza kasi ya ukataji miti, vilevile umeme utasaidia usambazaji wa maji safi na salama kwa wananchi wengi. Teknolojia itakayotumika kusamabaza maji pia itadhibiti uchafu wa maji taka, kwani itakuwa ya kisasa na wala haitachafua mazingira na kuhakikisha usalama watu.
Anasema NDC na Tata Chemicals Limited, kutoka India na waendelezaji wa mradi huo kwa makini wanazingatia umuhimu wa kuhifadhi mfumo mpana wa mazingira katika sehemu ya mradi, ndiyo sababu walipokea na kujumuisha mawazo na malalamiko ya wadau kuhusu taarifa ya mazingira
Mwandishi wa makala hii anapatikana kwa simu 0784 846907

Chanzo: Tanzania Daima, 8/7/2008

INDIAN FIRM HALTS PLAN FOR SODA ASH PROJECT

By Orton Kiishweko
THE CITIZEN
An Indian company that was keen to invest $500 million (about Sh600 billion) in a soda ash project along Lake Natron in Manyara district has reportedly pulled out.

The firm, Tata Chemicals, announced it was putting on hold its plans for a soda ash extraction and processing plant at Lake Natron due to intense pressure by environmental lobbyists.

Mr Homi Khusrokhan, the firm's managing director, said his company has suspended the investment and will wait results of the final Ramsar Management Plan currently under preparation for Lake Natron.

We still wait for a report that is meant to put the investors and environmentalists concerns into consideration, he said.

However, a report published in the Hindustan Times, one of India's leading newspapers, quoted Mr Khusrokhan as saying the project was also facing a tricky situation that has something to do with a tedious environmental convention.

Environmentalists all over the world have opposed the project, saying Lake Natron, which is an important breeding ground for flamingos, would be destroyed if the company set up a factory. Their campaign forced the shelving of the first environmental impact assessment report that had cleared the Indian firm to invest.

Yesterday, Tanzanian authorities were, however, unaware of the planned suspension with Environment Minister Dr Batilda Burian and Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) chief executive Mr Emmanuel ole Naiko saying they were yet to receive official information from the company.

Mr Ole Naiko said the suspension of the project may not be conclusive as an assessment report that will consider the interests of investors and conservationists was still being awaited.

The merits and demerits of the project are still being debated and a common understanding has not yet been reached as far as I know, Mr ole Naiko said.

Dr Burian told The Citizen that the Government has not approved the project, and was still assessing it to determine whether to endorse it or not.

As the Government, we are obliged to bring about sustainable social, economic and environmental development. This means that we can allow the project only after the merits and demerits of the whole scheme, she said.

Mr Khusrokhan, a key spokesperson for the project, admitted that it was clear now that the plant could not be sited at the lakeside because of the risks to the environment. Therefore, the original Environment and Social Impact Assessment should be treated as withdrawn, he said.

But Mr Gideon Nasari, managing director of the state-run National Development Corporation (NDC), has in the past said that they plan to shift the plant 35km (22 miles) from the lakeshore to help preserve flamingos, which are a major tourist attraction.
However, a UK-based environment group, Birdlife International and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, opposed this saying that shifting the project 35km from the lake would not mitigate the negative impact the project is likely to pose to lesser flamingos and the local community.
Twenty-four conservationists from East African countries, under the banner of Lake Natron Consultative Group recently , called on the Tanzanian government to halt the project, saying its a recipe for destruction of the lake and it inhabitants.

Conservationists also argued that the economic benefits of the plant are insignificant, compared with its long-term negative effects on the environment and the country's struggling tourism sector.

Their reports have indicated that Lake Natron is by far the most significant of only five sites in the world where lesser flamingos breed regularly and successfully. The breeding at Lake Natron accounts for 75% of all the world's lesser flamingos.
Their reports also say, that based on flamingo tourism alone, Lake Natron has a value of close to $12 million a year.

Chanzo: The Citizen, 23/05/2008