The costs of evaluating fitness of construction projects to the environment by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) have been transferred to taxpayers.
In January, the Treasury stopped investors from paying environmental audit and building levies to the respective regulators, months after it announced the phasing out of the charges.
The Cabinet also abolished the fees charged by the National Construction Authority (NCA) on projects exceeding Sh5 million.
Parliament wants the Treasury to reverse the decision to scrap an environmental audit levy that will see taxpayers foot a Sh800 million bill to finance the operations of the anti-pollution watchdog in the year starting July.
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) said the environmental impact assessment (EIA) fee should be reinstated, saying its scrapping goes against international treaties that demand that polluters pay for their action.
The costs of evaluating fitness of construction projects to the environment by the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) have been transferred to taxpayers, shielding rich investors who previously funded the agency’s operations.
“The committee was informed that EIA has been scrapped …and will further reduce the appropriations in aid (A-I-A) collected and burden the taxpayers,” BAC chairman Mutava Musyimi says in the report on the budget estimates for the financial year 2017/18 tabled in Parliament last Thursday.
In January, the Treasury stopped investors from paying environmental audit and building levies to the respective regulators, months after it announced the phasing out of the charges.
Contractors used to pay a fee of between Sh10,000 and Sh40 million to Nema for environmental audits depending on the risk levels of their projects.
The Cabinet also abolished the fees charged by the National Construction Authority (NCA) on projects exceeding Sh5 million, which attracted a levy of 0.5 per cent of the value of the contract.
The project fees had remained unchanged for sometime despite a presidential proclamation that they be reviewed.
Investors complained the levies made it costly to build homes, power plants and office towers.
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