Mindu Dam weeds in Moro threaten fishermen`s well being

Fishermen living around Mindu Dam here are compelled to combine fishing and agricultural undertaking to sustain their lives due to strange weeds choking the 400 ha of the Dam at Mazimbu in Morogoro.

A survey conducted by the delegation of Journalists at the dam last week, indicated that the situation affected socio economic patterns of around 400 fishermen whose livelihood solely depends on fishing.

These aquatic weeds are incredibly forming a myriad of clusters within the dam`s water surface, putting the most important `water source` for ten of thousands of the municipality dwellers, under siege.

According to Hamis Twahir (34) an estimated 300 fishermen who spent years around the dam have moved out of the area due to the decline of fishing undertakings.

Fatma Ahmad (38) a food vendor at Mindu Dam called on the government to address other environmental threats such as increasing water pollution and resurgence of water hyacinth.

`Our future will be at stake if the dam will be left to dry. I used to earn 12,000/- a day for selling food to fishermen, but I now earn 3,000/- due to fish catch dwindling,` she lamented.

In yet another development, lack of sedimentation plant for controlling incursion of silt at the dam, water intake is said to pose health risks to nearly four million dwellers of the municipality.

Grace Nyato told a delegation of journalists recently that they normally boil water for drinking and brushing teeth on fear that tap water is not safe.

`We do not drink tap water. Because we have heard a number of cases about water-borne diseases, particularly typhoid and cholera,` Nyato explained.

`Poor and illiterate families normally boil water only when they hear of cholera outbreak. Most of the poor and illiterate families drink tap water without boiling,` chipped in Jumanne Ramadhani.

A worker in the hospitality industry, James Mkude also concurred with the above concern, saying that `tap water is not safe here`.

`We are forced to put mineral water in hotel rooms for our customers for them to drink and brush their teeth,` Mkude said.

For his part, the Morogoro Regional Medical Officer, Dr Meshack Massi said tap water is clean but not safe for drinking.

`You can drink directly from the tap but some minerals contained in the silt can affect you,` Dr Massi said.

Commenting on the problem of silt influx, the MORUWASA Public Relations Officer, Michael Mlambiti said at least 2bn/- is needed to purchase the sedimentation plant for removing silt.

`We do not have sufficient money. We are looking for donor funds to get the sedimentation plant,` Mlambiti said.

Clarifying on contamination of water, he said MORUWASA water was safe and they were in the process to register with International Standard Organisation (ISO).

He however, admitted on the problem of water leakage saying it was at 34 per cent.

But water engineers say with water leakage, water is not safe because broken pipes can easily lead to the process of oxidation caused by rusting of pipes made of irons.
They also say that leaked water provides room for possible contamination of tap water.

Available findings from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) show that the problem of contamination of water in the municipality is caused by a combination of factors, including poor farming practices on the mountains.

Other causes, according to SUA researchers, are bush fires, deforestation on the mountains, forest disturbances along river courses and failure to adhere to forest conservation by-laws such as refraining from cultivating near water-catchments and river banks.

Before the decline, fishermen and surrounding communities used to earn their decent living by supplying fish to the region`s districts, Coast and Dar-es-salaam regions, among others.

The Investigative Journalism and Environment took place in Morogoro and was funded by Pact Tanzania under funding support from USAID agreement/Millennium Challenge Corporation to impart investigative skills to journalists engaged in the natural resources/ environment sectors in Tanzania.