WHY THERE IS NEED TO BALANCE BETWEEN DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND ENVIRONMENT CONSERVATION?
By Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor
Worth Noting:
- The Director General of National Environment Management Authority in a memo stated that he had given the contractor of the project until the end of March to plant assorted seedlings along the twenty seven kilometre multibillion expressway.
- He said from their environmental impact assessment, the project led to cutting down at least 2,500 trees hence the order to replant 3,000 seedlings. More than thirteen different species of trees were lost to make way for a four lane dual carriageway that starts from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru junction.
- The Construction of the expressway led to a loss of biodiversity in the capital city with different environmental organizations putting different figures for the loss with some quoting as much as more than 4,000 young and mature trees as having been cut down.
This week I was perturbed, mesmerized, transfixed and perplexed by some news that captured my eyes while reading some newspaper. The current expressway that is still under construction must be one of the legacy projects of Jubilee Government. That is not in dispute at all, the problems come to getting on the ground and observing the ramifications of the development. Nairobi express project is being financed and constructed by China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) – and the Chinese firm will operate the highway under a public-private partnership. This means the four- and six-lane dual carriageway, with 10 interchanges along the route, will not be free to use – drivers will have to reportedly pay a toll of between $2 and $3. The aim of improving Nairobi’s roads seems like a laudable cause, but some argue it could actually exacerbate the city’s traffic problems and the huge social and economic divide. The major bone of contention that this article delves on is on environmental impact assessment of the project.
If Professor Wangari Maathai could have been alive, am not sure whether she could have allowed for implementation of the Expressway. So as us not seem that am speaking Gujarati let me expound. The Chinese firm that is constructing the Nairobi expressway is on record to have cut down at least two thousand five hundred trees so as to build the upper decker road. Am damn sure that Professor Wangari Maathai is turning in her grave on mention of that. You mean such a huge number of trees have been cut just to ensure that there is road project. Cry my beloved country members; do we still have a country? The next question one might be tempted to ask is that when all these things were happening where was National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)? Or was it a well-orchestrated plan by the national government to ensure that the plan succeeds despite all the risks it imposes?
The Director General of National Environment Management Authority in a memo stated that he had given the contractor of the project until the end of March to plant assorted seedlings along the twenty seven kilometre multibillion expressway. He said from their environmental impact assessment, the project led to cutting down at least 2,500 trees hence the order to replant 3,000 seedlings. More than thirteen different species of trees were lost to make way for a four lane dual carriageway that starts from Mlolongo to the James Gichuru junction. The Construction of the expressway led to a loss of biodiversity in the capital city with different environmental organizations putting different figures for the loss with some quoting as much as more than 4,000 young and mature trees as having been cut down. Let’s assume the trees are planted who will water them and ensure that they grow? After how long will it take them to grow?
For the project to have been conducted there must have been environmental impact assessment as aforementioned by the Director General of National Environment Management Authority. According to University of Nairobi Law Lecturer Dr. Kariuki Muigua environmental impact assessment is a procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a proposed activity on the environment. Its object is to provide decision-makers with information about the possible effects of a project before authorizing it to proceed. It is also defined as a process which produces a written statement to be used to guide decision-making, which provides decision-makers with information on the environmental consequences of proposed activities, programmes, policies and their alternatives; requires decisions to be influenced by that information and ensures participation of potentially affected persons in the decision-making process. I am very sure that in the assessment report it was indicated that the project had negative effects on the environment but NEMA still gave the government the go ahead thus prioritizing development projects over environment.
Who needs to be taken to class so as to get to know the importance of trees in our ecosystem? Especially in Nairobi which has a high population of people not forgetting the industries and the various pollution emanating from the various vehicles, churches and manufacturing plants. We as a people do have a noble role so as to ensure that we preserve the environment for future generation. It seems some people in high echelons of power haven’t interacted with that provision at all. There is urgent need courtesy of emerging issues such as climate change to ensure that for every project that takes place, adherence to the environmental impact assessment be the norm. Failure for that to happen definitely we as a country will be heading towards a total doom. I must categorically state that whoever gave the go ahead for the express way project to continue despite the environmental concerns deserve to be jailed and be given ten strokes of the cane daily.
Odhiambo Jerameel Kevins Owuor is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus. He regularly comments on legal, social and contemporary issues.
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