By MKT Correspondent
Worth Noting:
- The petition highlighted that sometime in 1998, Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd (KTDA) through Iria-ini Tea Factory entered into a lease agreement with the defunct Nyeri County Council and leased 80 acres of the hill for a duration of 30 years. It further avers that during this period, KTDA has felled numerous trees leading to the erosion of its indigenous environment. The Ward Representative informed the House that the forest initially had pine trees, which have been felled over time and replaced with eucalyptus trees.
- The MCA is appealing to the County Assembly to take the necessary action in order to protect and preserve the forest as well as safeguard the constitutional rights of the residents.
Nyeri County Assembly has been petitioned to intervene and save Othaya’s Karima hill from proposed Deforestation.
Karima ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) Eunice Wagaki presented the petition on behalf of her residents concerning deforestation or felling of trees at the 265-acre hill, located two kilometres from Othaya town.
The MCA noted that the residents of the ward are deeply concerned over the rate at which deforestation has significantly increased leading to the loss of huge tree cover.
Through the petition, presented on Tuesday, the is seeking the intervention of the Assembly to issue an immediate order to halt any activities leading to felling of trees at Karima Hill Forest so as to ensure sustainable exploitation, utilisation, management and conservation of the forest as enshrined in Article 69 of the Constitution of Kenya.
The petition highlighted that sometime in 1998, Kenya Tea Development Agency Ltd (KTDA) through Iria-ini Tea Factory entered into a lease agreement with the defunct Nyeri County Council and leased 80 acres of the hill for a duration of 30 years. It further avers that during this period, KTDA has felled numerous trees leading to the erosion of its indigenous environment. The Ward Representative informed the House that the forest initially had pine trees, which have been felled over time and replaced with eucalyptus trees.
The MCA is appealing to the County Assembly to take the necessary action in order to protect and preserve the forest as well as safeguard the constitutional rights of the residents.
The Assembly Speaker, James Gichuhi has committed the petition to the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources for its consideration and tabling of the report.
On February 11, hundreds of Karima residents thwarted a plan by the tea factory to convene a public participation meeting to discuss the issue.
The meeting scheduled to take place at Gatugi Trading centre ended prematurely after the locals said they would not hold a meeting to discuss felling trees.
Othaya Sub-County administrators and security officers alongside directors of the tea factory had to call of the meeting.
Last week, the factory had planned a another similar meeting at Othaya NG-CDF Hall but was called off in the last minute.
On their side, the management of the tea factory insists that they have legitimate documents showing part of the forest was leased to them.
However, the locals doubt the authenticy of the papers, wondering why they want to carry out public participation when the alleged lease period is almost expiring.
One of the leading environmentalist in the county Mr Basilius Kagwe has been leading the residents in rejecting a move to lease part of the forest saying doing so will have catastrophic results.
In an interview, Kagwe said that the Karima Hill Forest land was donated by local residents through their four clans that surround it. These clans are; Gìteene, Kirùmwa, Maigua and Ngai.
“The Karima hill land belongs to the four clans and no one should dare interfere with it without their consent,” Kagwe noted.