Rail firm wants case on track path through park resolved by watchdog
Zebras at the Nairobi National Park. The Kenya Railways Corporation and conservationists have locked horns, after the Kenya Wildlife Service approved one of the routes that a modern railway line will use — through the Nairobi National Park. Photo/FILE
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The petitioner has claimed that the construction of the railway would be a threat to a clean environment and biological diversity, adding that exhaust emissions and vibrations of the construction equipment would disturb wildlife movement and behaviour.
They want the row handled by the Public Complaints Committee established by the Environment Management and Co-ordination Act.
The Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and a Chinese contractor want a suit seeking to block the construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR) through the Nairobi National Park taken out of court and handled by the environmental watchdog committee.
The pair has urged High Court Judge Edward Muriithi to decline jurisdiction arguing that the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court where the petition was filed by Mr Robert Kipkemboi, a city resident, is not the proper forum where the issues raised can be tackled.
They want the row handled by the Public Complaints Committee established by the Environment Management and Co-ordination Act.
“The fact that the petition raises issues that are purely of environmental nature, we are of the view that the matter ought to be taken to the Public Complaints Committee established under section 31 of the Environment Management and Coordination Act,” said lawyer for the Chinese firm.
More park land will be carved out to create room for the construction of the second phase of the SGR that runs from Nairobi to Naivasha.
The new Mombasa-Nairobi line will run on the edge of the park and not deeper inside, but this has not stop Friends of Nairobi National Park (Fonnap) lobby from opposing the project.
A threat to a clean environment
The petitioner has claimed that the construction of the railway would be a threat to a clean environment and biological diversity, adding that exhaust emissions and vibrations of the construction equipment would disturb wildlife movement and behaviour.
Through his lawyer, Mr Kipkemboi urged the court to hear his petition saying the plea also raises issues on violation of other constitutional rights and was thus properly before court.
“The objections raised by KRC and the Chinese firm are calculated to waste judicial time and should be dismissed,” said Mr Kipkemboi’s lawyer.
KRC and the Chinese firm, however, defended their position saying that Mr Kipkemboi has not alleged that he lives in the park or thereabout, so as to justify that his rights may be violated, and thus his petition remains a general concern on environment.
The Sh327 billion SGR is one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s flagship projects.
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