A public participation meeting scheduled for Wednesday at Chumani Social Hall in Matsangoni, Kilifi county, to discuss the proposed nuclear power plant was called off on Tuesday.
This was after word went round that the Nuclear Power and Energy Agency has shifted their proposed project site from Uyombo to Chumani, about 3km away.
Angry Chumani residents have now joined their Uyombo counterparts in opposing the proposed power plant.
Environmental activists, led by Centre for Justice, Governance and Environmental Action executive director Phyllis Omido, on Wednesday accused Nupea of using underhand tactics to impose the project on Kilifi people.
“They first chose Uyombo. After our opposition, they have now brought it to Chumani, which is basically the same ecosystem which has Arabuko Sokoke forest and the Watamu marine park," she said.
“I live in Chumani. I will not allow a nuclear plant to be set up here because of the dangers it poses. The struggle continues.”
Omido said a nuclear power plant in any location will mean that no agricultural activity will be allowed to take place within 15km radius of the plant.
“You will not be allowed to rear any animals or farm because the soil and the area will be poisoned. What will these people, who depend on agriculture, feed on then?” she posed.
She spoke outside Chumani Social Hall where the scheduled town hall meeting failed to take place.
However, Nupea CEO Justus Wabuyabo, who was at Mnarani Beach Club in a workshop with officers from Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (First) programme, said the town hall meeting was called off because they got information there were plans to disrupt it.
“And because we would not want to engage in that kind of activity, we have opted to wait and see if the community would be ready to host us,” he said.
In an interview with journalists at Mnarani Beach Club, Wabuyabo said as a government agency, it is their responsibility to engage the community about the nuclear power programme.
“We want to listen to what the community has to say about the programme. We will tell them what the nuclear power programme entails. We will share with them the pros and cons of the programme, the risks that are involved and what the government is going to do to ensure the people and the environment are protected from any harm,” the CEO said.
He denied claims Nupea has set its eyes on Chumani as a possible project site, saying nothing concrete has been decided yet.
“What we have done is only a helicopter kind of survey. This is a preliminary process where we have just done a general site characterisation. We will later undertake what is known as detailed site characterisation to determine the exact point where the nuclear power plant will be,” Wabuyabo said.
“So, all those rumours going around are not true. We are a government agency. We are open. The information we have is available to the public and we are ready to share that information."
He said any information about any change will be communicated to the public openly.
Anthony Kingi, an environmental activist, accused Nupea of giving out only piece meal information that suits their agenda.
He said the town hall meeting would not have been abruptly postponed if Nupea were genuinely willing to engage with the public.
“Now, instead of letting the whole community ask the questions they have regarding the proposed nuclear power plant, they select a few individuals, take them to an expensive hotel like Mnarani and claim that that is public participation. It is not,” Kingi said.
He said Chumani, which allegedly been pinpointed for the nuclear power plant, is still under the same ecosystem as Uyombo.
Benjamin Dadu, the Lenga Community Development Organisation CEO, said Chumani has a population of about 30,000 people, who will be affected should the nuclear plant be set up in the area.
Nupea CEO Wabuyabo said the Mnarani Beach Club engagement was with their partners from Texas in the US to share their own experiences with having a nuclear power programme, the challenges and remedies.
“They are our partners and are here to assure us it is a normal thing to have a nuclear power plant within the community and every other activity goes on,” the CEO said.
