THE enormous devastation caused by fire, started by unknown arsonists on 185 hectares of trees in Mbizi Forest Reserve in Sumbawanga Municipality, in Rukwa Region, has reached over 226m/-, according to the actual damage quantified recently.
The devastated forest, with a total of
1,269 hectares, had been planted with tree seedlings since 2014 has 13
blocks, out of which only Blocks 5 and 8 remained intact.
The Forest reserve is managed by
Tanzania Forest Service (TFS), 12 kilometres from Sumbawanga Town, which
is surrounded by six villages and is the key source of water supply by
80 per cent here in addition to being home to red colobus monkeys.
That revelation was made by the Mbizi
Forest Reserve Manager, Mr Mohamed Kiangi during the 30th Rukwa Regional
Consultative Committee (RCC) chaired by the Regional Commissioner (RC),
Mr Zelothe Steven, held here over the weekend.
According to Mr Kirangi, fire erupted in
different places in the forest simultaneously at 1:00 am on September
19 before being extinguished by 100 per cent at 1:00 pm on the following
day.
Mr Kirangi told the RCC meeting that the
reserve forest was key source of water as several steams from the
forest poured its water into Lake Rukwa as modern irrigation schemes in
Lake Rukwa Basin depended entirely from water of the streams.
On his part, Mr Zelothe issued a stern
warning to arsonists that they would be traced wherever they are hiding
and arraigned in court. The RC ordered relevant state organs to ensure
that all suspects are arrested and prosecuted.
“No stone will remain unturned until all
of them are apprehended and prosecuted. It is very disheartening that
they have caused colossal damage to the forest, which is the main source
of water supply to Sumbawanga Town,’’ the RC stressed. He appealed to
the public to assist by providing information that will lead to the
arrest of the arsonists, who are still in hiding.
Meanwhile, a cross-section of the people
interviewed by this newspaper, who preferred anonymity, alleged that
the arsonists were suspected to have used their mobile handsets and
motorcycles in setting fire at different places in the forest, which
broke out almost simultaneously.
“Possibly, the arsonists used their
mobile phones to communicate with each other so that they successfully
set fire at different areas in the forest concurrently,’’ added one of
them.
Several casual workers, including Paulo
Mapunda, Baldwin Kambaulaya and Ms Marietha Fataki, echoed their
sentiments that the devastated forest was their key source of employment
and income.
During the rainy seasons -- between
January and March more than 400 casual workers could secure temporary
jobs, including weeding and planting of tree seedlings.
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