Public Outcry Over Limited Access to Vumawimbi Beach Due to Proposed Resort

TLDR

• A long wall has been constructed by WIPI Group beside an old rubber plantation near Vumawimbi beach in Pemba, running for over two kilometers.
• The wall is associated with the proposed Mantuli eco-resort, which plans to include 130 houses and swimming pools, potentially occupying nearly a quarter of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve.
• Concerns have been raised by local residents and conservationists that the wall restricts access for forestry officers, families visiting ancestral graves, and residents collecting firewood.
• The head of the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority stated that the resort would only be built in the rubber plantation, but did not provide a detailed map to clarify the project's boundaries.
• Public outcry continues as the lack of clear information regarding the wall's alignment with the project boundary deepens community concerns.