TANZANIA BEING POOR DESPITE OF ITS ABONDANT NATURAL RESOURCES.

“The problem of being poor is mainly because you are lacking the modern ways of utilizing the Natural Resources your country has been blessed with”. Spoke the Ambassador of Norway in Tanzania, his Excellence John Lomey on 02nd March, 2009 when he was addressing the trainees during the opening ceremony of Young Environmentalists Trainees (YETs) which was conducted at Tanzania Episcopal Conference Centre (TEC) in Kurasini, Dar-es-Salaam.

We are failing to utilize the resources well so that they help to improve the National income because the majority of us (Tanzanians) almost 90% rely on traditional energy sources. These resources need great attention in taking care of them so that they result into sustainable yield/products hence development to our nation.

The Ambassador alerted the trainees not to get used to Malaria and HIV/AIDS workshops since they are of no benefit to the citizens in the aspect of bringing about development to the country. Thereafter he talked about the purpose and importance of the training to the individual trainees, Civil Society Organizations (CSO’s), local community and the country as general.
Why is Tanzania among the poorest countries in the World despite of its richness in natural resources? He questioned the audience and mentioned some of the resources such as plenty sunshine, substantial forests, worlds greatest wildlife populations and greatest fishery water bodies in the world. His question was taken as a challenge by the audience.

The honorable Mr. J.Lomey gave the suggested solutions to the question which to Tanzanian it’s a big challenge/problem by giving the example of his country Norway on how it managed to shift from poorest countries to be among the rich countries in the world. He said that the Norwegian developments relied on the three strong pillars which are Strong governance, Private sectors and Available active CSO’s that have emphasizing on sustainable utilization and development. Tanzania is now challenged to take examples of the developed countries and the means they used to achieve their development.

The Ambassador winded up his opening speech by challenging the Tanzanian Government to strongly act upon the fighting between the Pastoralists and Cultivators and make a review on the land policy on proper land use and rights to every citizen to own/use their land.

By Victoria Maeda-
March 2009.