- The NECC in a report says action must be taken to protect the environment and secure resident's livelihoods.
- The forest is of great significance to the Kaya elders as they are focal points for religious beliefs and practices.
A government agency has raised the red flag over noise and air pollution from quarrying activities in Jaribuni, Kilifi county.
Kaya Kauma forest, one of the only nine gazetted sacred forests at the Coast, has also not been spared, the National Environmental Complaints Committee says.
The forest is of great significance to the Kaya elders as they are focal points for religious beliefs and practices.
However, cement-making factories and companies contracted to build the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport corridor in Lamu are exploiting raw materials from quarries, threatening its existence.
The NECC in a report says action must be taken to protect the environment and secure resident's livelihoods.
The committee on December 1, 2019 received complaints that dust generated from mining activities was causing a major problem among area residents following the sinking of the earth in areas where iron ore mining and murram was being done.
Following the blasting to extract murram for the construction of the Lamu port as part of the LAPSSET project, a wide crack damaged the road at Marere in Jaribuni ward in Ganze constituency.
"The county government of Kilifi, National Environment Management Authority and the Department of Mines and Geology should ensure all quarrying companies obtain the requisite licenses and permits for their operations," part of the report says.
NECC led by its secretary John Chumo investigated the complaints on December 16, 2019.
The committee says the county government, Nema and the Department of Mines must conduct regular monitoring to ensure quarry operators strictly observe all the conditions of the licenses and permits.
"Nema in conjunction with the county government and water resource authority should ensure that River Nzovuni is not polluted from quarrying activities in Jaribuni location by regular monitoring of the water quality," the report says.
NECC said Nema in conjunction with the county should map out all the abandoned quarry pits and ensure they are rehabilitated.
During the investigations, NECC found out that quarrying sites operated by different companies employed blasting to obtain rocks for making ballast.
"There were many abandoned quarries which are left un-rehabilitated," the report says. The quarrying activities in some sites run for 24 hours.
NECC said noise pollution from the machinery operating in the area posed a risk to area residents and their livestock.
The community also raised concerns pertaining to revenue sharing from the sale of mineral resources.
NECC says air and noise pollution from quarrying and blasting activities is contrary to the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act.
During the investigations, Kilifi county commissioner Magu Mutindika said several Chinese companies extracted murram from the area that is being used to construct the Lamu port.
Magu said Jaribuni residents lease out their land to quarrying companies under private contracts.
The county commissioner said Kaya forests are sacred sites whose conservation is crucial in maintaining the cultural heritage of the coastal communities.
Kaya Kauma chairman Hillary Mwatsuma told the committee that the ancient sacred forest at Kaya Kauma serves as a religious shrine for Kaya elders and is gazetted as a Unesco world heritage site.
Mwatsuma warned that the forest was facing extinction due to quarrying activities in the area.
He said falling rocks and dust from mining activities had contaminated water sources that feed River Nzovuni, affecting downstream water users.
Nema Kilifi county officer Kennedy Njau said all the mining companies had acquired an Environmental Impact Assessment license upon completion of public participation.
Njau said some blasters had bought land while others had a lease agreement with landowners.
He revealed that Nema was regulating manganese and iron ore extraction in the area.
Njau said some companies were operating illegally and had a secretive mechanism of evading the law as they operate at night and in hidden places to avoid being detected.
Nema had instructed the ballast crushing plants to install wet-crushing technology to reduce dust emissions.
George Shoka from the Kilifi county government's Department of Natural Resources said they had agreed with miners to do wet-crushing, especially at Kaya Forest, to reduce dust pollution.
Shoka said the Kaya Forest, which is used for prayers twice a year, cannot be relocated as it preceded the quarries.
"The county governments in the coastal region, Nema, KFS and National Museums of Kenya should ensure that all Kaya forests are identified, gazetted and properly demarcated for purposes of their conservation for posterity and to avoid any encroachment," NECC said.
Edited by Henry Makori