By ADAM IHUCHA
The East African Tourism Platform (EATP) is putting pressure
on Tanzania to open a Bologonja border between the Serengeti National Park and
Maasai Mara for tourists’ traffic.
The border crossing at the Sand River, demarcating the
Kenya’s Masai Mara and the Tanzania’s Serengeti was until mid-1970s a
convenient route for tourists yearning to visit the Serengeti-Masai Mara
ecosystem stretching over 24,000km² of land.
But after the collapse of the first East African Community
in 1977, all border posts with Kenya were closed by Tanzania for nearly seven
years.
However, in mid-1980s, Tanzania changed its mind, allowing
the main highway border crossing points, save for Bologonja border, which had
remained closed for tourists’ traffic to date.
EATP Coordinator, Ms Waturi Matu said during a regional
private sector conference in Arusha recently that with the EAC common market
protocol in force, Bologonja border closure for 36-years now should be
concluded as a matter of urgency.
The Platform, a regional apex private sector body for
tourism focuses on promoting intra regional tourism through advocacy in a bid
to reduce obstacles afflicting the industry.
“Wildebeests have been migrating from Serengeti to Maasai
Mara and the vice-versa, but ironically human beings with our cognitive do not.
We need to open this border for tourists traffic,” Ms Matu noted.
She was furry that a closure of the border had compelled
tourists to endure nearly five-hour drive from Maasai Mara via the designated
Isebania-Sirari border point to Serengeti Park.
Others have to drive back to Nairobi for an overnight
stopover before proceeding to Arusha via Namanga the next day in their quest to
visit the Serengeti.
She vowed to work closely with the East African Business
Council (EABC) to lobby the EAC ministers responsible for tourism to overrule
the continued closure of the border post, for the interest of regional tourism
industry.
Nairobi based Nahdy Travel & Tours Ltd Managing Director,
Faraj Abdalla says that the border closure adds substantial extra cost on the
Serengeti and the Masai Mara package, as tourists have to back track the entire
way via Nairobi or Arusha to reach the other side.
“The move to have tourists change vehicles at the borders of
Namanga, Sirari and Taveta is not only humiliation for tourists, but also a
window dressing for a Tanzania’s policy of non-tariff barriers to keep
competition away” Mr Abdalla explained.
The EATP Vice-Chairperson, Mr Manzi Kayihura was of the view
that the issue was more or less bilateral between Kenya and Tanzania and they
should sort it out diplomatically.
“The solution of this lies between the two partner states of
Kenya and Tanzania. I believe it can be sorted out diplomatically because it is
a bilateral issue,” Kayihura explained.
One of spokesperson from Natural Resources and Tourism
Ministry, Adam Akiyoo said Tanzania would not bow down to any pressure on a
matter of Bologonja border.
Asked as to why even in the application of the EAC common
market protocol that provides free movements of goods, persons, labor, services
and capital within the region, Tanzania seems to be a reluctant partner, he
said that the protocol does not mean that the EAC is now an area without partner
states internal borders.
“EAC arrangement is not everything, Tanzania like other
partner states is still a sovereign country. We are only obliged to implement
those issues we agree and not everything. Our border must be respected,” Mr
Akiyoo stressed.
According to him even in European Union, the EAC role model,
the member countries do not agree in everything, as it understood the Britain
does not recognizes the EU single visa—‘Schengen visa’.
“We all know that Britain also had refused to cede its pound
currency to Euro, so there’s nothing strange, our position is that Bologonja
border would remain closed, lets agree to disagree” underlined Mr Akiyoo who is
a Public Relations Manager of Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority.
The senior official further said that it was right for
tourists to endure hours ride from Maasai Mara via Isebania-Sirari or Namanga
because the Serengeti is not an annex of Maasai Mara Game Reserve.
Way back in 2009, the Tanzania National Parks shifted the
border checkpoint from Bologonja gate to the base of Kuka hills, where the
official territorial beacons, splitting Kenya and Tanzania, are located.
It is understood TANAPA built a new rangers post, where
would have also hosted customs checkpoint and immigration offices all under one
roof to insure security at the border.
Analysts say this move to extend the border-crossing line,
further north in the Serengeti District, totally wiped out the lush-green 17 km
wide buffer-zone that used to lie between Tanzania and Kenya.
Former Kenyan Tourism Minister Najib Balala is on record for
criticizing his Tanzania’s colleagues over the agonizing long wait to have
something put in to place, on which, at least at face value, all have agreed,
but which some, behind the scenes, try to delay as long as possible.
Tanzania has maintained that the fragile ecosystem of the
area, which is a World Heritage Site, couldn’t be sacrificed for the purpose of
shortening the route between Maasai Mara and Serengeti.
Tanzania National Parks spokesperson, Mr Pascal Shelutete
says that the reason why Tanzania could not open the Bolongonja border is the
disparity of tourism policies between the two neighboring countries.
“Kenya encourages mass tourism contrary to Tanzania which
prefers quality tourism- low volume of tourists but reaps higher revenue. So we
feel that once we open Bolongonja border the tourist traffic from Kenya will be
extremely high at the expense of fragile Serengeti ecology,” Mr Shelutete
explained.
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