WITH tourism developing into a big
business in Zanzibar, residents near the beaches have raised concern over
westerners and even Africans looking to get a bit of sunshine by resting naked
on the islands' sand beaches. "Although we need visitors and tourists for
our daily bread, they are ruining our children morally because of how they
expose their bodies on the beach," a community leader in Nungwi village,
said.
He noted that normally children rush to
beaches in the afternoons to watch visitors "lying naked, some kissing and
making more intimate acts in public." The community leaders called upon
parents to stop their children aged between 5-15 years from going to the
beaches, where tourists enjoy in the afternoons.
However, some parents in the tourist
villages argue that it was difficult to control children from moving to
unrestricted beaches because children do not have playing grounds. They said
that children are also attracted to the beaches, because tourists befriend
children by giving them sweets and some money. "We need to join hands to
stop this habit to save our children," said Mr Hamad Machano, another
local leader who said that only development tourism should be encouraged.
"Tourists don't have to swim or lay naked in the open because that harms
our youth," he said.
Tourism accounts for roughly 80 per cent of Zanzibar
foreign earnings, employs an estimated 40,000 people and is one of the pillars
of its economy.
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