Hunters now to bid for blocks
What you need to know:
- Dr Kigwangalla said the hunting blocks would now be allocated through an open auctioning process – and that the authorities were now laying down the requisite procedures on how the tendering process could best be conducted.
The newly-installed minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr Hamis Kigwangalla, on Monday, November 6, announced fresh allocation of wild game hunting blocks in game reserves and national parks across Tanzania. This comes after the minister canceled new hunting licences which were to be formally released in January 2018.
Dr Kigwangalla said the hunting blocks would now be allocated through an open auctioning process – and that the authorities were now laying down the requisite procedures on how the tendering process could best be conducted.
“We [the government] will (revisit) the laws and regulations before the new tendering process kicks off. The old hunting licences will expire on December 31,” the minister said.
“The earlier procedures which were used in licensing were marred by corruption, and were not valid. There was favoritism, and the procedures were strategic. The Five-year National Development Plan (2016-2021) and the Big Results Now (BRN) Initiative direct that hunting blocks should be distributed through open tendering,’’ he said.
“There were some dishonest people who were benefiting from the old procedures of allocating hunting blocks. They reserved the blocks to themselves – and were able to bribe their way out of that... In the end, the blocks were undervalued, dropping from $2 million to $60,000” in fees each, he stated.
“Politicians and other dishonest people who pretended to be natives in the nearby communities illegally appropriated the blocks – and then rented them to foreigners, demanding rental fees of up to $300,000 year, with only $60,000 going to government coffers,” Dr Kigwangalla lamented – stressing that the extant allocation procedure is contrary to the findings of a number of studies that were done in the 1990s, and early 2000s,” the minister added.
“I know that my decision to ban the old licensing procedure was fully thought over, and I ask for your prayers. I am doing this to support President John Magufuli in action on the ground – not only by mere words,’’ he elaborated.
