Landslide Disaster on Mountain Hanang: Lessons Which Have Never Learned

News:

As of 9th December, 2023, the death toll from a recent landslide on Mount Hanang in Manyara Region, Tanzania rose to 85. Apart from a great number of deaths, this landslide caused numerous houses to be buried or swept away, infrastructures damages and displacement of local population.

Comment:

Following this catastrophic natural disaster that took place on December 2nd, 2023 we offer sincerely and wholeheartedly condole greetings to all the families of the deceased persons and we console the injured to get quick recovery so that they finally continue with their normal life.

Natural disasters such as this is a clear manifestation of the weakness, dependence and inability of humankind as well as existence of Creator Who Controls every aspect of His creatures. Humankind came into this life unwillingly and will be gone unwillingly. It is upon every sane person to deeply ponder on this reality and so find the answers for the most vital questions of life, such as, who is he, where was he before he came to this world, whom created him, what is the purpose of his creation, where will he be after his death etc. Obviously he would definitely conclude that there is a Creator, the One worth to be worshipped.

On the other side, in such events of natural disasters like this landslide, despite the fact that it is among the decreed actions of the Creator -the divine fate (Al Qadhaa) that we do not question, since its emergence is beyond human knowledge, but we are obliged to account actions within the domain of humans, such as prevention and rescuing measures once the disaster takes place.

Observation at the human actions within this event vividly indicates state apparatus’s negligence and irresponsibility in dealing with this disaster. It is very unfortunate that there are no proper pre-established disaster response plans, proper investment in preparedness measures, evacuation systems, active disaster response agencies as well as mechanism for public awareness.

It has to be remembered that Tanzania Meteorological Authority (TMA) predicted earlier the possibility of a seasonal rainfall outlook that most parts of the country are set to receive above-normal to normal rains from October to December 2023, which is expected to be influenced by El Niño conditions. If all these scenarios were considered the consequences would likely not be such severe.

Furthermore, this is not the first time that floods and landslides have caused deaths of tens of people in Tanzania. On 03rd December 2011, heavy rains in Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Mbeya regions resulted to landslides whereby nine people were killed and hundreds left homeless. This susceptibility of mountainous landslides was enough for the government to take comprehensive risk assessments and proactive measures to prevent future disasters, but it seemed it did not learn from the previous disasters.

This is intrinsic of the democratic system in the capitalist ideology which cares only about politicians, their henchmen and the wealthy, while disregarding the public. Tanzania as any place in the world needs Islam as an ideology, via its Khilafah (Caliphate) state would liberate it from all havoc and miseries and put in place a systems and disaster response strategies so as to build resilience against future natural disasters.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Said Bitomwa
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania