Table 5.4: Water Contamination from Pollution
|
Immediate Causes
|
Root Causes
|
Impacts
|
Severity
|
Introduction of dissolved nutrients, industrial pollutants, sewage and runoff water,
Non-point pollution from agriculture and rural settlements due to improper handling of wastes and chemicals.
Washing of solid waste into water sources.
|
Weak policies, laws and regulations for environmental protections (e.g. EIA); insufficient enforcement and monitoring especially in respect to industrial facilities; low budgetary provision for enforcement of existing regulations, lack of sufficient human resources.
Overwhelming of current capacity of infrastructure by an ever increasing urban population,
Inadequate investment in new infrastructure possibly due to budgetary constrains
Non-point sources: Unsustainable land use practices in combination with lack of security of land tenure.
Inadequate zoning regulations and/or enforcement; inadequate environmental and land use planning.
Low environmental awareness and sense of value or environmental protection.
|
Degradation of water quality, rendering water unsuitable for domestic, agricultural, industrial and other uses.
Degradation of meager water resources.
Spread of infectious diseases (diarrhea, malaria, bilharzias, dysentery, and intestinal worms).
Low labour productivity due to diseases
Increased mortality rates especially among vulnerable groups such as small children, the displaced and the elderly.
|
Moderate
| 5.2 Generic Social Concerns
The main social issues in Zanzibar today are:
Acute Poverty – It is estimated that 22% of the Zanzibar population live in poverty and this is distributed unevenly throughout the islands with up to 60% living in poverty in some rural areas. Economic growth in Zanzibar has averaged 6% in 2004 and GDP per capita was estimated at $300 in 2004 (compared to $260 on mainland Tanzania). Thus, compared to Tanzania mainland, which is considered one of the poorest countries in the world, Zanzibar is slightly better off but still poor.
HIV/AIDS – Life expectancy in Tanzania has declined to 48years as result of the aids epidemic. HIV/AIDS affects both education coverage and quality. It dampens the demand for education as affected households have fewer resources to spend on education either because of reduced income due to morbidity of income earners or diversion of scarce resources for health care. Children in these households are often taken out of school to care for ill parents or have to work to make up for lost household income, and an increasing number are becoming orphans. At the same time, the epidemic affects the supply of educational services at all levels through increased mortality, morbidity and absenteeism among teachers and education personnel.
The Crisis in Education – An exceedingly small proportion of the Tanzanian age group completes secondary education. At most 5% of the age group completes lower secondary and 1.5% completes upper secondary. As a result, less than 5% of the labor force has obtained secondary education. The main cause is restricted initial access and low retention. Only about one in four or five primary school completers proceeds to lower secondary education in Tanzania.
Low coverage of secondary education reflects constraints on supply and demand for secondary school places. The pressure to expand secondary school places is likely to rise rapidly in the coming years as an increasing number of students complete their primary school education, especially with the introduction of free primary education that has raised the gross enrollment rate in primary education to 100% in 2002 compared to 77% in 2000.
Gender Issues – Women are often poorer than men, own less land and livestock and have fewer years of schooling. There is roughly gender equality in access to primary schools, though imbalances exist in completion rates and access to secondary schools. Gender imbalances are rooted and sustained by traditional and cultural values. In 1990, the Government established the Ministry of Women Affairs and Children with a view to promote gender equality. A gender committee has been created to ensure that sectoral investments respond to the priority needs of both men and women. The new land legislation has represented an encouraging step towards securing the right of women to own, dispose of and inherit land4.
5.3 Potential Impacts of the ZSEP
5.3.1 Potential Positive Environmental and social Impacts of the ZSEP
Each School to be supported under the ZSEP will be assessed for impacts under its own merit taking due recognition of the size, geographical and ecological setting for each project. The potential impacts highlighted in sections below are based on observations made on several sites targeted either for rehabilitation or new construction. Preliminary impact prediction has been made based consideration of the potential interaction between civil works and the baseline environment of the site also against the background of generic social and environmental concerns as identified elsewhere above.
Typical project impacts are summarized in table 5.5 and 5.6 below. These include:-
Capacity building for professional staff: The ZSEP is possibly the first major project to be implemented in the Education Sector in Zanzibar. As such, it is a project whose planning, implementation and supervision requires strong back-up in terms of capacity building and exposure of local professional staff. Ultimately, the ZSEP will leave behind, not only physical and software infrastructure, but also a highly trained profession cadre of staff with capacity to replicate such initiatives elsewhere; a contribution viewed as one of the main positive impacts of the project.
Capacity building for environmental management: It is further anticipated that implementation of this ESMF will increase in Zanzibar, the practice of subjecting development projects (especially education projects) to an environmental management process, in the prevailing situation where a national environmental policy and regulatory framework are weakly enforced. The ESMF offers the opportunity to identify potential program impacts, mitigate them verifiably through monitoring while building capacity for environmental management at al levels of project management down to the School Boards and local communities led by Shehas.
More directly, positive impacts of the project will manifest as follows:-
Improvement in quality of secondary and tertiary education in Zanzibar: By rehabilitating and equipping old dilapidated school buildings with modern facilities for the teaching of science subjects, IT and co-curricula education, the ZSEP will impact positively on delivery of quality education and thus facilitate production of school leavers who are better equipped to compete for professional training spaces at national level or for the job market. ZSEP, therefore, is strategic in development of the national professional human resource base of Zanzibar.
Improvement of the safety and quality of life for students: The observation of this study is that facilities currently available in the best secondary schools are at best pathetic- a picture best illustrated by the condition of dormitories at Fidel Castro High School- on of the best in Unguja and Pemba. Provision of quality facilities including reinforcement of dilapidated structures in old town will further enhance the safety of occupants thus greatly toning down potential for occurrence of diseases associated with exposure and, the hazards associated with occupation of failing buildings. This may be the single most important impact of rehabilitation works.
Improvement in enrollment rate: The other drastic positive impacts are associated with anticipated significant increase in the enrolment rate at the secondary education level by increasing the number of classroom/places in the public, schools system throughout the country. Further, through provision of additional teachers, the national schooled labour force is set to increase drastically and this is strategic to penetration of the job market in Zanzibar and beyond. Further, provision of adequate space in secondary schools will phase out the current double shift system in which students only get to spend half a day in school and are out at home in half the time. By facilitating the students to spend maximum time in school, this will improve the opportunity of one to one teacher-student contacts which is conditional to effective transfer of knowledge.
Potential impact on HIV/AIDS awareness: Through increase enrollment in secondary education, additional opportunities for public health awareness and education for protection and prevention against HIV/AIDS will be available for secondary school going age among boys and girls. It is this age group that is particularly vulnerable to this epidemic.
Elimination of inequity of access and throughput in education among geographical areas, income groups and between genders: By virtue of communities being traditionally asked to contribute towards secondary school extension, usually within a combined primary/secondary school system, education development poses a financial burden to households. . As well, high per student cost on households and the public sector in secondary education is a major constraint to access to education. Indeed, the burden of financing education is acknowledged as a major drain to house hold incomes and a major contributor to inequity in access. Thus, by lifting off the burden of financing refurbishment of secondary education infrastructure in Zanzibar, ZSEP will remove a huge burden from households and thus facilitate channeling of funds are channeled to other equally needy cases. Simultaneously, ZSEP will remove financial obstacles that deter children from less endowed families from accessing education and thus improve the chances of such households to penetrate the economic system in Zanzibar and beyond. ZSEP as currently designed is seen as a major affront against rural poverty in Zanzibar.
Impacts on the rural and national economies: In the short-term, ZSEP will create opportunities for employment in civil works while operation of the institutions is likely to create fulltime employment to some people. Others will benefit from business opportunities created by market for construction materials and supply of foodstuffs and fuel wood to the new institutions. This will boost the rural economy and is an affront against rural poverty.
Contribution to national housing schemes: Provision of housing to staff members in model schools and the Benjamin Mkapa Teachers College amounts to creation of additional decent housing for beneficiary families.
Potential Adverse Environmental Impacts from the ZSEP
Careful selection of sites for new construction together with adherence to this ESMF will greatly reduce occurrence of adverse social and environmental impacts under the ZSEP. However, adverse impacts are still likely to manifest in the following areas:-
Rehabilitation will temporarily displace target schools: The most dramatic and conspicuous adverse impact from implementation of ZSEP is associated with displacement of target schools during the period of construction repair works. An given the scarcity of secondary schools in Zanzibar, opportunity for relocating the affected schools will be limited and this could also amount to disrupting of services in the host schools. Unless carefully planned, displacement of schools is likely to hurt learning by inconveniencing both staff and students and could lead to some children dropping out of school altogether.
Impacts of material supply for construction: During construction, inadequate supervision of project contractors could create loopholes for environmental abuse through non-sustainable sourcing of building material. This is likely to cause long-term impacts such as those associated with non-sustainable quarry practices and deforestation for supply of building wood. The latter two are major concerns in Zanzibar currently.
Impacts associated with operation of completed facilities: Operation of boarding schools and colleges will require continues supply of inputs, predominantly household energy, water and electricity and will continuously generate effluent such as solid waste, waste water, sewage, smoke, etc while creation of institutions in formerly agricultural lands will change the local hydrological condition leading to more generation of surface runoff with potential to trigger or aggravate soil erosion problem. Operation of institutions, therefore, has potential to aggravate the twin problems of degradation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems which is already a major concern in Zanzibar today.
Impacts associated with non-elimination of barriers to education: Unless caution is taken to involve local communities in the preparation of their District and Regional Secondary Schools Development Plans by their Local Governments, adverse impacts such as exclusion of vulnerable groups from participating in and benefiting from project activities, barriers to access to/ enrollment in secondary schools due to stigmatization, harmful cultural practices, acute poverty among vulnerable groups, discrimination, etc may still persist and this may undermine achievement of ZSEP goals which are partly motivated by the International Declaration of Education to all. As well, non-negotiated land acquisitions/use resulting in involuntary resettlement/ displacement including encroachment on cultural and sacred sites are likely to cause strive which may undermine project development and progress.
Table 5.5: Matrix for potential positive social and environmental impacts under the ZSEP
Component
|
Activity
|
Primary Impact
|
Secondary Impact
|
Duration
|
Severity ranking
|
Weighting
|
General
|
Subjecting the entire project to an EA process
|
Sensitizing society on environmental requirements
|
Will improve environmental awareness
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Generation of a database on social and physical environment of project
|
Improves public awareness
|
Long-term
|
Moderate
|
P
|
Project implementation will draw collaboration across sectors
|
Creation of a forum for interdepartmental cooperation
|
Long-term
|
Moderate
|
P
|
Programme development and implementation
|
Capacity building for MoVT staff and others
|
Such skills will be useful outside project work
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Rehabilitation of old schools
|
Demolition and rehabilitation
|
Creation of employment in design, construction and supervision
|
Addition income to households
|
Short-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Provision of improved and expanded facilities for learning
|
Improve quality of education
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Revenues paid to respective authorities
|
Adds to revenue base
|
Short-term
|
Low
|
0
|
Construction of new schools
|
Site selection, clearing and leveling
|
Stakeholder collaboration and involvement
|
Strengthen ties
|
Long-term
|
Moderate
|
P
|
Construction of superstructures
|
Employment in construction work
|
Additional income
|
Short-term
|
Moderate
|
P
|
Market for construction materials
|
Contributes to local and national economy
|
Short-term
|
Moderate
|
P
|
Operation of completed structures
|
Creation of additional capacity for secondary and teacher training in Zanzibar
|
Contribution to national skilled human resource base
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Short and long-term impacts on HIV/AIDS through sensitization of more students under a school environment
|
Children will be more aware of HIIV/AIDS while spending more time in school will reduce chance exposure
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Creation of employment in new facilities
|
New bas for livelihood created
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Creation of market for foodstuffs, fuel wood etc to boarding institutions
|
New base for livelihoods
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Creation of accommodation for teaching staff.
|
More households will now access more decent housing
|
Long-term
|
High
|
2P
|
Table 5.6: Matrix for potential adverse social and environmental impacts under the ZSEP
Component
|
Activity
|
Primary Impact
|
Secondary Impact
|
Duration
|
Feasibility of mitigation
|
Severity ranking
|
Weighting
|
Rehabilitation of old schools
|
Demolition and rehabilitation
|
Displacement of entire school
|
Disruption of learning process
|
Short-term
|
Varied
|
High
|
2N
|
Inconvenience to school staff and students,
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Congestion and stretching of facilities in host schools
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Generation of construction
debris
|
Littering of the town
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Occupational hazards to construction workers
|
Possible injuries and associated social costs
|
Short-term
|
Varied
|
Low
|
0
|
Occupational Health and safety hazards to workers
|
Erosion of the touristic appeal of stone town
|
Long-term
|
Irreversible
|
High
|
2N
|
Construction of new schools
|
Site clearing and leveling
|
Removal of soil and vegetation
|
Destruction of biodiversity
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Creation of soil debris
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Dust, noise and other nuisance
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Encroachment on sacred sites and cultural heritage sites
|
Creates social tension and strive
|
Long-term
|
Irreversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Displacement of other land users by school
|
Undermine agriculture, human settlement etc
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Construction of superstructures
|
Consumption of quarry stone and sand
|
Impacts at material borrow areas
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Consumption of timber and other wood
|
Impacts on national forests
|
Short-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Occupational health and safety hazards
|
Injuries and associated social costs
|
Varied depending on degree of injury
|
Varied
|
Varied
|
0
|
Operation of completed structures
|
Overload of existing infrastructures
|
Overloaded sewage, storm drainage, etc
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Generation of solid and liquid waste
|
Littering of the neighborhood
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Change in the local hydrology
|
Generation of more surface runoff and soil erosion
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Pressure on resources
|
Consumption of wood fuel
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Moderate
|
N
|
Consumption of water resources
|
Long-term
|
Reversible
|
Low
|
0
|
Final weighting
|
|
|
Total P =23
Total N=12
Net weight= 11P
Positive impacts outweigh adverse impacts
|
P=High positive impact, P= moderate positive impact, 0=low impact, N=moderate adverse impact, 2n severe adverse impact. 
5.3.3 Net social and environmental impacts of the project
Overall, the ZSEP is likely to have a positive impact on the environment in Zanzibar, in the short, medium and long term. Firstly, the project benefits in terms of social and environmental impacts outweigh the adverse impacts. The ZSEP will pose no direct risks to biodiversity, natural habitats and wetlands, as it will not fund activities in protected areas, national parks or wetlands. Further, out of 18 possible adverse impacts, half are short-term in manifestation and will clear once construction ends. Indeed, the bulk of impacts also have readily available means for total and effective mitigation; - out of the 9 long-term impacts, 8 are possibly reversible leaving only four fairly irreversible factors, the key of which is associated with changes in the Stone Town Architecture. The latter impact is fairly easy to mitigate since in order to fully comply with requirements of the World Convention on Heritage Sites- and preserve the integrity of Stone Town, all construction work in Stone Town will have to adhere to guidelines set by the STDCA who will also undertake routine supervision.
Requirement for monitoring to ensure sustainability of this esteemed social and environmental profile of the project will be detailed elsewhere below. The environmental and social screening form and checklist contained in Annex 2.0 and Annex 3.0 are specifically designed to ensure that adverse social impacts from ZSEP activities are identified and captured in the planning stages and there-in effectively mitigated. Both environmental and social mitigation measures would be verifiable monitored during the various stages of the program cycle.
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