Nema has ordered permanent closure of 15 slaughterhouses in Kiamaiko which have been releasing effluent into the Nairobi River.
Director general Mamo Boru ordered the slaughterhouses operators to relocate to a newly built abattoir in Lucky Summer, Njiru.
The director spoke during an interview with a local TV station on Sunday.
Boru said the relocation must be enforced with immediate effect.
About 300-400 livestock are slaughtered at the facility daily. The abattoirs release the solid waste into the river.
The untreated waste directly pollutes the river.
Mamo said this wasn’t the first time that questions about environmental practices and hygiene standards had been raised in Kiamaiko.
There was another closure order in 2018. It was however lifted after a meeting by the owners of the abattoirs and government agencies.
The meeting resolved that the owners adhere to set regulations, failure to which they risk closure.
The stakeholders agreed that all hides and skins will be taken to the licensed tanneries daily and all workers must be medically examined and properly dressed.
The owners should also provide clean washrooms for workers, designate holding pens away from the slaughter houses and install monitoring chambers.
After an emergency inspection by Nema last December, the slaughterhouses have not fully implemented the conditions set, necessitating closure by the environment body.
"We have given them the month of February to organise themselves and move to the site. There are no extensions. We have really engaged them for long, now it’s time to move,” Mamo ordered.
The Nairobi Metropolitan Service had written a letter to the owners over the discharge of untreated waste into the river and gave them 14 days of compliance or closure.
The Environment committee had also recommended closure of these slaughter houses in November, last year.
Nema says that the closure will be part of ensuring that the Nairobi River regeneration initiative is on cause.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
