Four Green Mile workers held after ‘resisting’ order
Longido. Four employees of a hunting company, Green Mile Safaris Limited, which was ordered to leave on Tuesday, have been arrested.
The government revoked the hunting licence of Green Mile Safaris Limited for violating hunting regulations.
Reports from security sources in Longido District had it that four workers of the troubled company were being held for allegedly refusing to close their hunting camp.
The sources added that the quartet may be arraigned for disobeying the government orders to stop their hunting activities.
Members of Longido District security committee were at a remote site east of Lake Natron to oversee the disbanding of the camp after some workers apparently disobeyed the order to stop hunting operations.
Mr Toba Nguvila, the district administrative secretary, told The Citizen yesterday that the arrested workers would appear in court.
He added that the disputed hunting block would now be under the supervision of the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (Tawa).
Local villagers and members of the militia as well as the police force will be deployed to ensure the site is devoid of hunting activities.
A Tawa official in charge of anti-poaching in Arusha Region, Mr Emmanuel Pius, said they were implementing the order from the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. According to him, those held are Mr Lazaro Lembrice, the acting manager of one of the camps used by tourists, Moses Sikange, Mohamed Bembe and Hassan Mahonza. They are said to have been reluctant to close the camps inside the hunting block.
Initially, the company was ordered to vacate the area on December 16 last year. This was later extended to January 20th (last Monday).
The vacation order, however, dates back to August 2019 when the Natural Resources and Tourism minister, Dr Hamisi Kigwangalla, accused the firm of violating terms of its hunting licence.
These included, among others, failure to contain wildlife poaching and contribute money for community projects for 23 villages surrounding the block, amounting to Sh350 million. The quit order was confirmed by Longido District Commissioner Frank Mwaisumbe last weekend when he addressed residents of Mundarara Village.
Officials of the firm have repeatedly claimed the quit order has not been officially communicated to them.
The firm’s director, Mr Awadh Abdallah, is among those who had refuted the claims, but was not available for comment.
