•The National Environmental Complaints Committee investigates any allegations or complaints against any person or the authority concerning the environment.
•On its own, the committee can investigate any suspected cases of environmental degradation and report to the Cabinet Secretary.
Environment Cabinet secretary Keriako Tobiko has directed the National Environment Management Authority to exercise its mandate and crackdown the whip on polluters at the coast.
The National Environmental Complaints Committee has asked the National Environment Management Authority to exercise its mandate and crackdown the whip on polluters at the coast.
NECC secretary John Chumo said this will enable Kenyans to enjoy a clean and healthy environment.
Chumo's sentiments come few days after environment CS Keriako Tobiko sounded the alarm over destruction of the environment.
NECC investigates any allegations or complaints against any person or the authority concerning the environment.
On its own, the committee can investigate any suspected cases of environmental degradation and report to the Cabinet Secretary.
During the World Wetlands Day marked on February 2, the CS directed Nema to crack the whip on individuals and companies for the destruction of the environment and water sources.
“Nema is under instruction to review all licenses given to salt making companies and be subjected to social impact assessment studies”, Tobiko said.
The CS said there are serious degradation and pollution upstream evidenced by brown waters of river Sabaki as it joins the Indian Ocean which is blue in colour.
He said the government was committed to ensuring the cleanliness of the Sabaki estuary from its source in the Ondiri swamp all the way to the Indian Ocean.
Tobiko was speaking at Sabaki estuary during the World Wetlands Day celebrations which saw a total of 100,000 mangroves planted in the estuary and Mida Creek as build up and to mark the celebrations.
Tobiko urged Nema to adopt the blocks that were planted with mangroves at Sabaki Estuary and Mida Creek and work with communities to ensure they grow.
On sand harvesting, Tobiko said although the government is not keen on destroying livelihoods, sand harvesting should be done sustainably.
Chumo said the continued discharge of effluent from the apartments into the beach will reduce fishing catches, spread diseases endangering people’s lives, and a decline in coastal tourism leading to the deterioration of the country’s economy.
“The country enjoys a lot of resources coming as a result of tourism and if we mismanage such kind of public beaches we are doing a lot of harm to our country ”, he said.
Chumo asked the county government to ensure the sewerage in Mombasa is corrected.
He said only 10 per cent of the households and structures are connected to the sewer line the 90 per cent either release to the seas or to the septic tanks which can flood causing sewage flow into the sea thus polluting the water.
Chumo said since there is a lot of system misapplication, and there is a need for the county commissioner, Nema and Water Resource Authority to form a Multiagency team to ensure the encroachment is addressed.
He said there is a need for the county government to observe their physical plan and ensure all illegal structures in the riparian reserve are removed.
“The county government through the County Environment Committee should revisit all the structures in the riparian area of the ocean and ensure illegal structures are removed,” he said.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
CS KERIAKO TOBIKO
NEMA is under instruction to review all licenses given to salt making companies and be subjected to Social Impact Assessment Studies