A section of Homa Bay MCAs has dismissed a committee report giving Sukari Industries a clean bill of health for waste management.
The assembly committee on Water and Environment tabled their investigation report on waste management by Sukari industry.
The assembly adopted the report on Thursday, despite claims the investigation was flawed and proper documents and Nema test results were lacking.
Sukari operates in Kanyikela ward, Ndhiwa constituency.
Residents had petitioned the assembly to address what they called the problem of waste management by the industry.
They said it was polluting the environment through effluent discharge into River Kuja, which most people depend on.
But MCAs approved the report that absolved the industry.
In its report, the 20-member committee said Sukari industries has a good waste management process.
Chairman John Kiasa said the effluent discharge is safe and meets required standards.
“The committee visited the firm and was furnished with documents from Nema which indicated the industry was operating within the standards,” Kiasa said.
The report also dismissed claims of a disease outbreak caused untreated discharge and emissions.
He said the industry has a proper waste management plant.
“The committee could not confirm any death record or illness that occurred over poor waste management,” report read.
But some MCAs led by Kanyadoto MCA Walter Muok and his Kanyamwa Kosewe counterpart Nicholas Owaka rejected the report, saying it has loopholes.
Muok claimed that the committee did not consider key factors.
They said the committee did not annex documents showing that the effluent discharge was certified safe and provide Nema test results to prove it, approved by Nema.
“It’s only through certified documents that we can accept the report,” Muok said.
Owaka asked Speaker Evance Marieba to order the committee to investigate again.
“The committee should revisit the factory and asks the industry management for relevant documents approved by Nema,” Owaka said.
(Edited by V. Graham)
