The impact of infrastructural projects on the environment in Tanzania: The case of mindu dam

This study was undertaken to evaluate and analyse the environmental and social impacts of the Mindu dam constructed in Tanzania in 1985 on the Ngerengere River in order to supply water for domestic and industrial use for the municipality of Morogoro and its environsThe study found that, the creation of a dam has stimulated positive impacts in terms of increased water supply and some economic activities, such as agriculture, fishing and industries. However, one notable negative impact was that 93% households representing about 1,737 people did not accept to be resettled away to a new area from the project location despite the fact that they were compensated. Results of the interviews of 300 households indicated that about 74% remained within the vicinity, 18% emigrated to town centres to seek paid employment and 8% emigrated elsewhere.The study revealed also weaknesses in the legislation and policy in relation to project impact assessment and EIA processes in Tanzania. ElA performance, for example, was found to be extremely poor, to the extent that EIA has had only a marginal impact on decision-making and planning. The failure to address resource constraints through EIA guidelines was found to be one of the factors that contributed to this situation.Another factor found to hinder the performance of project impact assessment and EIA processes in Tanzania was the lack of quality control mechanism at all stages, from screening and EIA commissioning to EIS review and post-completion audit. The project assessment process and EIA legislation and mandates that exist does not allow opportunities to create an enabling environment conducive to high quality environmental assessment process.The study also revealed that there was non-involvement of some stakeholders in project impact assessment and in the EIA processes. About 90 percent of all EIA processes undertaken in Tanzania, for instance, did not involve both local and nonlocal stakeholders and the public as a whole.Introduction of robust legislation and supporting guidelines to set the rules for project assessment and EIA has been suggested as the best way forward in addressing this problem. It has also been suggested that a concerted effort is required by both government and development agencies to support the transition to a more project impact assessment process and, to more effective EIA system in Tanzania.