Tanzania: Govt. says uranium mining to go on despite environmental & health concerns
"Tanzania to extract uranium in Africa's largest conservancy"
Tanzania has moved to speed up uranium extraction in Mkuju River in the Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s biggest wildlife conservancy area, amid protests from wildlife conservationists...Deputy Minister for Energy and Minerals Medard Kalemani said extraction of uranium should have begun when the mining licence was granted on April 5, 2015. “Mantra was given two years for construction of the mining infrastructure. This is the fourth year. We are therefore saying you must start uranium mining operations in the next two years,” said Dr Kalemani. “We are urging Mantra to open the mine in order to pay taxes and employ Tanzanians.”...
But the World Wide Fund for Nature has said that uranium mining and industrial activities being carried within the Selous reserve pose long-term economic and health risks to the people and economy of Tanzania. “Selous is the only natural World Heritage Site in southern Tanzania and one of the largest wilderness areas left in Africa. Its value to Tanzania, and indeed to the rest of the world, is dependent on its large wildlife populations and pristine ecosystems,” said country director Amani Ngusaru.