Mr Jerobwana Abraham Minja

Bwana Jerobwana Abraham Minja is an eight-six year old man from Marangu, Kilimanjaro. He tells his story starting from his childhood, when Tanzania was known as Tanganyikia.  When he was a child, Jerobwana believes that the environment was better protected. The forests were respected, water sources protected and attention was paid to environmental management. He feels strongly that post independence he has observed a lack in political will to effectively tackle environmental management issues and to address climate change.

 

Expanding on the issue of political will, Bwana Jerobwana has identified four main areas of focus that should be developed for Tanzania to achieve sustainable development: extractive industry, manufacturing industry, constructive industry and the distributive industry. In his opinion, the current Tanzanian government has failed to place emphasis on the extractive industry, which is where Tanzania has its strength. There has been a lack of respect for the environment, with little focus paid to agriculture, crops and mining, which are the backbone to Tanzania’s economic and social development. With insufficient attention paid to the environment, this has led to environmental destruction which has subsequently affected rain patterns in the country.  In Marangu for example, Jerobwana has seen the destruction of forests in his lifetime. He’s observed increased  pollution of water sources and other damages to the environment caused by population pressures. Therefore, he feels the government needs to stand by its laws and policies, to create an enabling environment that protects its citizens.  There must be sound examples about how to protect the environment. Jerobwana strongly believes that this should be enshrined in the Constitution, and done so in a participatory manner. Politics should not serve as a barrier to environmental protection, but instead should support it.