Magufuli hates tree felling without a particular purpose

The negative aftermaths caused as a result of indiscriminate tree felling are numerous an aspect that bring about loses resulting to land degradation. This is not good at all and in order to prevent the menace, stakeholders need to be careful and abide by the policy frameworks imposed by the government in order to defend natural resources. Due to the prevailing situation which has been noticed to have been practiced by some unscrupulous business people, President John Magufuli has come up in arms and cautioned Tanzanians to be careful with the situation, thus blaming them for not taking care and precautions over the matter for the country’s destruction due to environmental degradation. Dr Magufuli decried the indiscriminate clearing of forests, directing District Executive Directors (DEDs) and District Commissioners (DCs) to take actions but through observance of human dignity. He issued the directive over the weekend at Kasungu grounds in Kaliua district in Tabora region, shortly after he had inaugurated the 56-kilometre Kaliua-Kazilambwa road, which the Chinese contractor CHICO has constructed. The president condemned whom he described as ‘pseudo politicians’ from his own CCM party bent on corrupting Wananchi through “allowing them to invade forests and clear some oldest and unique species of trees just to make charcoal for the sake of getting votes but we are killing our own country.” He charged, “Just imagine a 20-year-old man clearing a 150-year-old tree merely for charcoal and worse still, there is no replacement. I must tell you the truth, this is not allowed.”  President Magufuli warned that should people be granted the freedom to destruct the environment from one place to another, the country will be courting a disaster, and soon Tanzanians will be forced to relocate to other countries like Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due unsupportive environment at home. He said even the world’s first class honey from Tabora region is at risk should the habit of clearing trees continue unabated, with water crisis likely to persist due to environmental degradation related drought.