The Water Hole

NEMA Blunders on Tana Delta

Category: Sugar, Tana Delta, Wetlands, Wildlife | Date: Jun 25 2008 | By: thewaterhole

As some of you may already be aware, NEMA already issued an EIA certificate for the proposed sugacane project at the Tana Delta, effectively authrizing this controvercial and potentially devastating project. This caught conservationists unawares since they were - and remain - convinced that the evidence against the project is overwhelming. Now, today morning (Wednesday 25th June 2008), there was a press event at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi. As we await the report of what transpired in the meeting, here are a few links to how NEMA’s action was recieved by different organisations recently:

Shocking Decision - Wetlands International

Kenya Biofuel Plans

Tana Proposal

Ironically, the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources organized a one-day workshop for stakeholders on the Tana and Athi Rivers basins at the Silver Springs Hotel on 18 June 2008, in which they were to discuss, among other things, identification of environmental problems, and constraints and strategies for the development of an action plan for the management of the two basins. While this was going on, NEMA, which is under the same ministry, was busy endorsing the most potentially devastating project for the Tana Delta. So we ask, who’s fooling who?

I am yet to get information about the outcome of that meeting but you can rest assured that I will keep you in the loop.

3 Responses to “NEMA Blunders on Tana Delta”

sheryl, washington dc, on 25 Jun 2008

Sounds like the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Any chance this decision can be rescinded pending further study?

In an interesting bit of sugar-related news, the state of Florida (my home state!) has decided to buy a huge U.S. Sugar plant in the Everglades. They’re going to take posession in six years and turn the ‘glades back into the swamp it should be. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/us/24cnd-sugar.html?ex=1372046400&en=045a6398af8701b1&ei=5124&partner=facebook&exprod=facebook

Louise L, on 26 Jun 2008

Sheryl, I was just going to say the same, I heard this good news about the Florida sugar plantation on the BBC a couple of days ago. Surely Kenya should take note of this.

This sugar deal and the NEMA decision stinks of corruption yet again.

The Water Hole » Blog Archive » Extensive Media Coverage for Tana Delta Press Conference, on 30 Jun 2008

[…] of which, environmental lobbyists haven’t given up. As I said in my previous post, the conservationists held a press conference last Wednessday (25 June 2008) and there was […]

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