11 Social Licence to Operate in the Energy Transition Era …
351
and the loss of life.
29 The substance of the discontent by the community stakeholders was that there was a history of unfair and exploitative
resource extraction in the region. Specifically, the residents of the region
were protesting the fact that they would not benefit from a government budget proposal in the financial year 2013/2014 to construct
the pipeline. Residents, therefore, wanted a more significant share of
the benefits from gas development.
30 The stakeholder perspective was
that the Mtwara gas project was introduced in a ‘top-down’ manner
which initially ignored the land tenure of the community as well as the
authority and function of the local leadership.
31 There were concerns
about the lack of transparency on the various social and economic
impacts of the project on the lives of the locals citing the lack of effective
pathways for communication between the Government, private stakeholders and the project-affected communities. In light of previous gas
activity in the region, the people felt that there had been a severe case
of historical neglect by the national Government over time and were
also disgruntled by the fact that they had seen very little gas projectrelated employment opportunities, women’s income-generating activities
and social service infrastructure.
32
The riots subsequently forced Tanzania’s parliament to postpone
debate on the budget proposals in order to consider the community
views.
33 In the end, political leaders, company representatives and other
stakeholders in the project had to make deliberate efforts to adhere to
29 R. Kamat V and others, ‘Natural Gas Extraction and Community Development in
Tanzania: Documenting The Gaps Between Rhetoric And Reality’ (Cirdi.ca). https://cirdi.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/07/Natural_gas_extraction_and_development_Tanzania.pdf, accessed May
18, 2020.
30 Ibid.
31 Because of the lack of consultative forum, the District Council was more of a recipient of
instructions from TPDC and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals than a partner in local
development.
32 R. Kamat V and others, ‘Natural Gas Extraction and Community Development in
Tanzania: Documenting The Gaps Between Rhetoric And Reality’ (Cirdi.ca). https://cirdi.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/07/Natural_gas_extraction_and_development_Tanzania.pdf, accessed May
18, 2020.
33 Ng’wanakilala, Fumbuka. 2013. “Tanzanian Gas Pipeline Plan Sparks Riot-Government Officials”. Reuters, 2013. https://uk.reuters.com/article/tanzania-riots/tanzanian-gas-pipeline-plansparks-riot-government-officials-idUKL6N0E33YE20130522, accessed May 27, 2020.
351
and the loss of life.
29 The substance of the discontent by the community stakeholders was that there was a history of unfair and exploitative
resource extraction in the region. Specifically, the residents of the region
were protesting the fact that they would not benefit from a government budget proposal in the financial year 2013/2014 to construct
the pipeline. Residents, therefore, wanted a more significant share of
the benefits from gas development.
30 The stakeholder perspective was
that the Mtwara gas project was introduced in a ‘top-down’ manner
which initially ignored the land tenure of the community as well as the
authority and function of the local leadership.
31 There were concerns
about the lack of transparency on the various social and economic
impacts of the project on the lives of the locals citing the lack of effective
pathways for communication between the Government, private stakeholders and the project-affected communities. In light of previous gas
activity in the region, the people felt that there had been a severe case
of historical neglect by the national Government over time and were
also disgruntled by the fact that they had seen very little gas projectrelated employment opportunities, women’s income-generating activities
and social service infrastructure.
32
The riots subsequently forced Tanzania’s parliament to postpone
debate on the budget proposals in order to consider the community
views.
33 In the end, political leaders, company representatives and other
stakeholders in the project had to make deliberate efforts to adhere to
29 R. Kamat V and others, ‘Natural Gas Extraction and Community Development in
Tanzania: Documenting The Gaps Between Rhetoric And Reality’ (Cirdi.ca). https://cirdi.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/07/Natural_gas_extraction_and_development_Tanzania.pdf, accessed May
18, 2020.
30 Ibid.
31 Because of the lack of consultative forum, the District Council was more of a recipient of
instructions from TPDC and the Ministry of Energy and Minerals than a partner in local
development.
32 R. Kamat V and others, ‘Natural Gas Extraction and Community Development in
Tanzania: Documenting The Gaps Between Rhetoric And Reality’ (Cirdi.ca). https://cirdi.ca/wpcontent/uploads/2019/07/Natural_gas_extraction_and_development_Tanzania.pdf, accessed May
18, 2020.
33 Ng’wanakilala, Fumbuka. 2013. “Tanzanian Gas Pipeline Plan Sparks Riot-Government Officials”. Reuters, 2013. https://uk.reuters.com/article/tanzania-riots/tanzanian-gas-pipeline-plansparks-riot-government-officials-idUKL6N0E33YE20130522, accessed May 27, 2020.