The Head of State had also repeatedly accused the local and international lobby groups of distorting the facts on the project, noting that the 35 kilometres section across the park would not be paved with tarmac.
It is now not clear if the Serengeti road project would go ahead after the Tanzania government lost a case on the proposed tarmac highway across the Serengeti National Park filed by a Nairobi-based animal welfare organization.
Immediately after the court verdict, the minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu said the judgment would have no impact because the government had already decided not to go ahead with the project.
But President Jakaya Kikwete had earlier stated that the government would go ahead with the road plan to ease transport problems of the poor communities near the park as well as open up the remote districts to economic development.
On Friday last week, the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) ruled that the planned tarmac road from Loliondo-Kleins Gate/Tabora B to Mugumu/ Natta would cause ecological damage to the park's ecosystem. Reading the judgement, the deputy principal judge Isaac Lenaola said given the ecological concerns, the plan by Tanzania government to construct the bitumen standard road across the park was unlawful.
The action would also infringe the East African Community (EAC) Treaty under which member countries have to respect protocols on the conservation, protection and management of the natural resources.
The Court, therefore, restrained the government from going ahead with the project because it has potential for inflicting irreparable damage to the environment which it described as 'irreversible".
The Reference was filed to challenge the proposed action by Tanzania government to construct and maintain Natta/Mugumu -Tabora B/ Kleins Gate-Loliondo road across Serengeti NP because of attendant consequences on the environment.
On August 26th 2011, the Respondent's Preliminary Objection to the Reference on the grounds of jurisdiction, limitation of time and form was overruled and his appeal to the Appellate Division in EACJ was dismissed on March 15th, 2012.
In its submission, ANAW had argued that the proposed highway would have "deleterious environmental and ecological effects" on the delicate Serengeti ecosystem and the adjoining protected areas such as the Maasai-Mara game reserve in Kenya.
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