Ethiopia Airlines is examining the
reasons why a Boeing 767-300 registered to the carrier landed at the small
Tanzanian airport of Arusha.
Flight ET815 had been due to
arrive at Kilimanjaro,
following a service from Addis
Ababa, but was unable to land.
Ethiopian says a "crippled Cessna" on
the runway forced the diversion. "Hence the aircraft landed at an
alternate airport," the carrier states.
But it has yet to explain why the 767
diverted to such a small facility. Nairobi's international airport is about
250km north of Kilimanjaro.
Arusha is about 50km west of
Kilimanjaro airport. Both have single runways aligned east-west, designated
09/27, but Kilimanjaro’s runway, at just over 3,600m, is twice the length of
Arusha’s.
Images from social media at the
incident site indicate the aircraft is ET-AQW, a 24-year old airframe powered
by Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
They also show that the aircraft
has come to rest with its nose-gear in soft ground. Ethiopian says the
aircraft's nose-gear "went slightly off the runway" but all
passengers and crew disembarked safely.
Neither Kilimanjaro nor Arusha
airport appears to have issued NOTAM data which might clarify the situation.
Tanzanite,
the gemstone found only in Tanzania, is owned by Tanzanians by more than 70 per
cent, but the real wealth from these unique mineral does not benefit the
majority of Tanzanians.
According
to a recent survey by The Citizen, the multi-billion wealth created from
tanzanite is spirited abroad due to lack of industries for value addition and
smuggling trend by some Tanzanians who own the mines without paying royalties
and related taxes.
Igunga
MP Dalaly Kafumu told The Citizen that the tanzanite nightmare, which prevents
Tanzanians from reaping real benefits, would end with the implementation of the
government regulation of 2004 requiring that the tanzanite-rich Mirerani area
in Manyara Region be turned into a reserve zone and fenced.
Dr
Kafumu, a renowned geologist, said that Tanzanians could never reap tangible
benefits from the mineral under the current structure of ownership.
He
said local tanzanite dealers own 70 per cent in addition to the State Mining
Corporation which owns 50 per cent of shares in South Africa’s Tanzanite One
that accounts for remaining 30 per cent of the precious minerals found in Mirerani.
This
implies that Tanzanians, including tycoon Reginald Mengi, own 85 per cent of
the tanzanite stake, but in real terms such ownership does not translate into
actual benefits for Tanzanians as the government coffers do not tap enough
revenue from tanzanite.
“My
personal view is that we should implement the government regulation of 2004.
Under the regulation the tanzanite blocks located in Mererani must be declared
a reserve area and a strong fence built around it to make it easy to track
revenue generated by mining companies and small-scale miners,” said Dr Kafumu.
Dr
Kafumu , a former commissioner for minerals in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals,
added that the country should emulate Botswana’s model of ownership of biggest
diamond reserve in the world under the partnership between the government,
local companies (Debswana Diamond Company (Pty) Ltd and De Beers.
“I’m
not for giving the lions’ share of tanzanite to Stamico, but there must be a
partnership company comprising government shares, TanzaniteOne shares and other
shares from indigenous companies so that they can be tracked to pay royalties
and taxes. Stamico’s past experience has demonstrated the parastatal was
inefficient and it lacked capital base. We should emulate Botswana in this
regard,” he said.
In
October, the government said it would blacklist gemstone dealers found to be
involved in tanzanite smuggling. Opening the 2nd Arusha International Gem,
Jewelry and Minerals Fair (AIGJMF), Energy and Minerals deputy minister Stephen
Masele called for zero-tolerance to tanzanite smuggling.
His
remarks came in the wake of reports that Tanzania, with GDP per capita of $570
as of last year, was losing more than $1.36 million every month in illegal
exports of minerals.
It is
estimated the annual loss from illegal tanzanite export amounts to $16.32
million (Sh26.1 billion), which can be spent to build not less than 130 health
centres countrywide, assuming that the cost of building one health centre with
modern facilities is Sh200 million.
