Quick Ride To Africa’s Tallest Peak; Tanzania Plans A Cable Car Service To Mt. Kilimanjaro

Climbing to the peak of Mt Kilimanjaro’s should be a walk in the park following Tanzania’s announcement that it will build cable cars on Africa’s tallest peak and a world heritage site.

The Magufuli-led country is currently carrying out a social and environmental impact assessment before construction on the Kilimanjaro cable car system begins.

The deputy minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Constantine Kanyasu, said that the project will be helpful in increasing tourist numbers in the country.

In addition, the Government says that the project is meant to cater to the physically disabled, the elderly and children and help them reach the mountain faster.

“We expect more camping on top of the mountain than this year,” The deputy minister said

However, the move has received criticism from rangers who claim that the quick ride up the mountain is a threat to their livelihoods.

“Of course, changes come with some effects, we should not expect Tanzania to be the same in one hundred years to come, and we should not have a nation that is prepared to be porters for a lifetime, ” Kanyasu said in response.

There are over 250,000 guides and porters who serve on the Mountain which attracts approximately 50,000 climbers who in turn earn the country USD 55.3 million annually.

According to the executive secretary of the Tanzania Porters Organisation, Loshiye Mollel, the project will, in the long run, ruin the lives and future of many local people whose livelihoods depend on the mountain.

The car service will be built and operated by a private US company which has already registered a local firm, AVAN Kilimanjaro, to implement the project.

Cable cars are already in use in Sweden, Italy and the Himalayas.

Featured Image Courtesy: ktpress.rw