The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) alongside the National Police Service have arrested 17 persons in Makueni County over failure to comply with the Environmental Management Coordination Act.
Speaking in Wote town, the outgoing Makueni County NEMA Director Vincent Oloo Ochieng said most of the arrests were specifically made at key facilities, including hotels and hospitals that neither submitted the annual environmental audit report nor applied for the annual effluent discharge licence.
Subsequently, Ochieng disclosed that the proprietors of Rapha Hospital and Eden Mart Petrol Station in Wote town have since been taken to court for the twin offences.
At the same time, other institutions were also given a police cash and improvement notices of 7 days to comply or risk prosecution.
Proprietors of Rapha Hospital and Eden Mart Petrol station have been taken to court and charged according to the law.
However, Guru Nanak Sikh Hospital-Makindu, Capital Nursing Home-Kathozweni, Makueni County Referral Hospital mortuary (under construction), and Kambua Resort-Kibwezi, to mention but a few, have been given notices to improve within 7 days or risk prosecution,” warned the Director.
“We have had a successful 4-day operation, where we visited 26 facilities in the county. Among the facilities toured were petrol stations, hospitals, and mortuaries, as well as residential and commercial buildings,” said Ochieng while speaking to KNA in Wote town.
He particularly called upon government officials undertaking various projects to always ensure they carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and also obtain an EIA licence as required by Section 58 of EMCA CAP 387.
The Director said the operation was conducted in Mbooni East, Makueni, Kathozweni, Makindu and Kibwezi Sub counties, where the local NEMA staff teamed with other officials from Nairobi and members of the police service during the exercise.
On her part, Senior Environment Officer from Nairobi, Mary Wanjiru Machandi, warned that facilities that have refused to comply with the environmental requirements risk prosecution.
“There are a number of facilities that have been issued consistently with improvement notices and restoration orders. They risk prosecution if they fail to comply,” she reiterated.
By Patrick Nyakundi
