TANGA BLAST SHOWS THAT TANZANIAN AUTHORITIES HAVE IGNORED THREATS
(Posted 19th January 2015)
‘The problem with explosives used for dynamite fishing has been growing and growing. It is not new but authorities have turned a blind eye on the problem. Those syndicates are well connected and must have pulled strings behind the scenes to be left alone. They have destroyed our reefs, depleted the fish along the reef and I see this attack in Tanga directly linked to the easy availability of the same sort of explosives used for illegal fishing. Perhaps this is a wakeup call now to crack down hard on dynamite fishing and start confiscating all those explosives. The two are linked and both must be stopped to improve security and restore sanity in our fishing industry’ said a regular commentator from Tanzania when passing information about an incident in near Tanga yesterday. 5 people according to the information received were injured when an explosive device was thrown in to a cinema hall on Thursday evening around 9 pm.
A number of local contacts discounted terror motives and expressed their opinion that this may be an issue of a more personal or business agenda, but all agreed that the ease of access to explosives used for dynamite fishing was a major and growing cause for concern among them.
‘We do not have the sort of terror threat some of our neighbours have. Still, the incidents last year in Arusha and now this one are of concern to us. There should simply be no explosives in circulation, full stop. Government must now deal with the dynamite fishing scourge and decisively. It destroys the reefs and as seen now, constitutes a clear and present danger to public safety and security. But be sure to make it clear, that Tanzania does not have a major terrorist problem’ added another source close to the tourism industry’s main association.
One suspect has according to available additional reports been arrested and is helping police in their investigations.
Last year were several people injured when, while trying to use explosives for fishing, got caught in a premature explosion, highlighting the problem extending all the way to the Coelacanth Marine National Park near Tanga.
There have been several reports in the recent past here about the problems caused by fishing with explosives and only a few days ago that an explosives’ cache had been nabbed on a bus from Arusha to Dar es Salaam, following a tip off. Official reactions from the Tanzanian government how to deal with dynamite fishing are however still expected but officials have so far been silent on the official course of action.
