Traditionally we are used to making various proposals that would be accomplished in the following new-year. I remember in my previous almanacs, I kept insisting on the plight of our city Dar es Salaam which according Forbes list of dirtiest cities in the world since 2008 Dar es Salaam has continued to rank number 12 out of 25 selected dirty cities in the world. Does this mean we have a long way to have a clean commercial city?
Way back 2012, the then Minister of State –Environment Dr Terezya Huvisa Luoga was on the news launching what was known as Dar es Salaam City Environment Outlook 2011 (DCEO). According to the Minister, the document provided information and knowledge on the City environment serving as a guide document for policy-makers and other stakeholders on how to improve environment performance of the city.
Together with it was the Master Plan of the Dar es Salaam City and the Strategic Urban Development Plan and the Community Infrastructure Upgrading Programme.
The Minister bemoaned the city of Dar es Salaam officials for leaving it in such a filthy situation. The Dar es Salam City was stinking. That was 2012; are we any better now? However, the DCEO revealed that Dar City was growing very rapidly with settlement pattern of pockets of planned areas and a mosaic of unplanned landscapes.
According to this report, the population had increased from 69, 227 with a growth rate of 2.4 per cent from 1948 to 2,497,940 in 2002 with a growth rate of 4.3 percent which about 80 percent of the population living in unplanned settlements.
If you have 80 per cent of the population living in unplanned settlements then having an orderly city is a pipe dream! These are the Manzeses, Tabatas, Majohes, Kijichi, Gongo la Mboto and other several areas mushrooming that need to be integrated and modernized settlements like Mikocheni, Mbezi Beach and the likes.
The idea of having satellite settlements should be one of the ways to go. But you need to have a well organized system of builders such as having Real Estate together with the National Housing Corporation to change the landscape of Dar es Salaam and the City Council should take its rightful role as the owner of Dar es Salaam and have the entire infrastructure which constitute the city.
We do not need to see mayors and other regional heads to be locked in unnecessary political feuds! In developing of this DCEO, a number of approaches were considered. They included socialeconomic issues, Legal, Policy and Institutional Framework; Land and Aquatic Resources; Minerals and Energy Resources; Waste Management and Sanitation, Environment Pollution and Climate Change.
The objectives of this DCEO which included the consultations from various stakeholders was aimed at establishing baseline data for measuring, monitoring and evaluating environmental changes to improve understanding of the causes and effects environmental change and recommend appropriate responses to guide policy makers.
It is also aimed at strengthening the capacity of Dar es Salaam stakeholders in sustainable environmental management and improvement of people’s livelihoods; to identify emerging environmental issues and provide and /or review policy actions and responses that would enhance community benefits from improved natural resources management and poverty reduction. The most disturbing issue right now in Dar es Salaam is the filthiness of our City.
Despite the existing policies related to environmental management and Conservation, the situation is far from better. There is an increase of haphazard disposal of liquid solid waste especially in unplanned settlements resulting into environmental pollution.
Dar es Salaam holds about 80 percent of industries in Tanzania, such as agro-chemicals, textiles and cement industries. The untreated waste discharge from these industries causes significant levels of environment pollution including water sources.
It is estimated that almost 70 per cent of these industries discharge their effluent directly or indirectly into the Indian Ocean. This should be the first area to deal with but you can imagine how difficult it is.
We have seen several times, the Deputy Minister in Vice- President’s Office (Environment and Union Affairs) Luhanga Mpina with his staff pronouncing hefty fines to the breaching organizations. Are these efforts of cleanliness in line with DCEO, or is something else?
We have to be consistent with the approved researched programmes rather than working on new ones aimed at enhancing political influence. DCEO should be considered on regional basis and not on district levels! Another issue is the problem of water supply in Dar es Salaam where most of the taps run perpetually dry.
The city currently depends on three main water resources of Ruvu, Kizinga River and a number of bore holes. The actual production from these sources is an average of 270,000 cubic meters per day while the demand is estimated to be 450,000 cubic meters per day, a shortfall of about 180,000 cubic meters.
However this situation is getting better, soon the question of water supply would be adequate. There are major challenges facing urban water supply both in quality and quantity, deficient billing and revenue collection system and inadequate enabling environment for private sector participation.
The advent of the fifth phase government came with full knowledge of the worsening situation of Dar es Salaam city. It was not surprising for President Magufuli to suspend the Uhuru Celebrations and concentrating on cleanliness countrywide.
This was thought to provide impetus in building the culture of cleanliness amongst our people. Lack of sufficient dumpsites and landfills has caused frustration to all these cleanliness efforts. The Pugu Kinyamwezi dumpsite is no match to more than 2,000 tonnes of solid wastes generated daily.
The Mabwe Pande dump processing plant should be given that priority. Hopefully 2017 has the magic wand.
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