坦桑尼亚计划在乞力马扎罗山安装缆车

Tanzania Plans to Install Cable Cars on Mount¹ Kilimanjaro

Tanzania is planning to build a cable car service on Mount Kilimanjaro. The country hopes the project will increase tourism in the area.

But, the area’s mountain guides and porters worry the project will threaten their jobs.

Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa. Trade and tourism support the people living in the area around the mountain. This is the case for 37-year-old Sintia Mwita. She is a mother of three children. She says her job as a porter helps her family a lot.

Mwita says, "I am the one who pays for their school fees and daily expenses in my family.”

Officials say the cable car will help the physically² disabled, the elderly and children experience Kilimanjaro. They also say it will help tourists get up the mountain faster.

Jennifer Francis is a leader with the Kili Meru Mountain Guides Society. She says the Tanzanian government has not been fully³ honest about the cable car project.

She also says government officials only tell people about the good parts of the project -- and not how the project could affect current and future generations.

About 50,000 tourists climb Kilimanjaro each year. Their activities help bring tens of millions of dollars to the area.

Tanzanian officials predict that operating cable cars will increase tourist numbers by as much as 50 percent.

Constantine Kanyasu is the deputy⁴ minister for natural resources and tourism. He believes the project will help the tourism industry in Tanzania. But he says the change will not be easy.

“Of course, changes come with some effects. We should not expect Tanzania to be the same in one hundred years to come…we need to have changes.”

Tanzanian officials will complete social and environmental tests before building begins on the Kilimanjaro cable car system.

Edson Matauna is a leader with the Mount Kilimanjaro Porters Society. He told VOA, “If our jobs will be assured, and these clients in the cable cars will have no negative effects on us, I think there will be no tension between porters and the government.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

assure – v. to make something certain; ensure

cable car – n. a vehicle that hangs in the air from a cable that pulls it up and down mountains

clients – n. people who pays a professional person or organization for services

deputy – n. an important assistant who helps the leader of a government, organization, etc.

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure; the business of providing hotels, restaurants, entertainment, etc. for people who are traveling

1 mount   

n.山峰，乘用马，框，衬纸；vi.增长，骑上（马）；vt.提升，爬上，装备

参考例句：

• Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
• She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。

2 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。