MONGABAY NEWSNOVEMBER 8, 2012Tanzania weighs new soda ash plant in prime flamingo territoryby Jenny R. Isaacs[The] government argues that the soda ash of Lake Natron is too economically enticing to ignore. Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete set an ambitious goal of nearly doubling Tanzania’s industrial sector by 2025. On a tour in 2011, he reminded reporters that Lake Natron’s natural soda ash deposit was one of the richest in the world and he portrayed the plant as a path to national prosperity.“We cannot continue to mourn about our country being poor while our minerals are lying untapped,” he said, adding that “at times I wonder whether those who are opposing this move are really patriotic.”The Tanzanian government (represented in the project as The National Development Corporation) continues to see the soda ash project as a way to reduce poverty, provide jobs, become self-sufficient, and increase revenues.On his 2011 tour to the area, President Kikwete acknowledged that “what matters here is the application of sophisticated technology which is not harmful to flamingo’s breeding” and to that end, a representative from The National Development Corporation said in a September public meeting in Dar es Salaam that their intention was to find a way to mine soda ash using safe technology that does not harm flamingos.“We are still carrying out research to find out the best mining methods,” they said.
Possible cue phrases:
- Mining important for economy
- Will help people
- Safe technology research
