A Mombasa court has been asked to hold Taifa Gas Investments SEZ Ltd, its directors, contractors or agents in contempt over alleged disobedience of court orders temporarily stopping the construction of a Sh16 billion Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminus at Dongo Kundu, Mombasa.
In an application at the Court of Appeal, Likoni residents want the directors and principal officers of the company committed to civil jail for a term not exceeding six months.
Taifa Gas is associated with Tanzania’s billionaire businessman Rostam Aziz.
According to the applicants, the court had issued clear and binding orders of status quo directing that the construction be put on hold pending hearing inter partes of an application at the Environment and Land Court (ELC).
At the ELC, the applicants have filed a petition challenging the construction of the LPG terminus.
Taifa Gas then moved to the Court of Appeal seeking to have it set aside orders and directions of the ELC suspending the construction of its 30,000 metric tonnes of LPG terminus.
At the Court of Appeal, parties agreed to comprise on the applications before the court (of appeal) and directions were issued that an application at the ELC be heard and that the status quo subsisting be maintained, meaning the contested construction of the project be put on hold in the meantime.
In their application at the Court of Appeal dated November 5, the residents now claim that Taifa Gas has acted in defiance of the orders and proceeded with constructions works on the project the Court of Appeal ordered halted.
“Such conduct is not mere omission or inadvertence, it is a calculated, willful and contemptuous affront to the dignity of the court deliberately engineered to mocks its authority and render its lawful orders impotent,” argue the applicants.
They claim that unless restrained, Taifa Gas will have accomplished by illegality that which the law has forbidden thereby making the court process a mere academic exercise.
Messrs Karungu and Nyiro also argue that the court has inherent power and jurisdiction to punish for contempt and enforce its orders against any party who seeks to undermine its authority, underscoring that court orders are not suggestions or opinions but commands that must be obeyed.
They also want the court to direct immediate cessation of all construction or related activities by Taifa Gas on the project site pending full compliance with the orders and further directions from the court.
In their petition at the ELC, the applicants say they are residents of Likoni close to the project by Taifa Gas.
They contend that the respondent has proposed to construct the LPG plant and intends to clear indigenous natural trees and vegetation and excavate the land to provide space for the LPG tanks which will lead to soil erosion and environmental degradation of the land and its environs.
“The petitioners aver that clearing the vegetation will interfere with the coral rock and will negatively affect the eco-system around the land,” part of the petition states.
According to the petitioners, the project by Taifa Gas involves the construction of a pipeline which will lead to suspension of sediments that will ruin the quality of water and penetration of light for the ecosystem within sea water.
“The petitioners also contend that the construction of a pipeline will ruin the fishing grounds which is a source of livelihood for the local population,” argue the petitioners who have named the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) as an interested party in the case.
The petitioners argue that the proposed development will have adverse environmental and land use impacts on the land including the depreciation of the environment, increase in pollution, increased vehicular and human traffic and rise in insecurity which will pose a great threat to the inhabitants around the land.
They want a conservatory order of injunction issued to restrain Taifa Gas from carrying out deleterious activities, carrying out construction or works including but not limited to setting up of the LPG terminus without prior compliance with Articles 10, 40, 42 and 69 of the constitution.
The petitioners also want a declaration that Taifa Gas unauthorized construction, felling and destruction of indigenous trees, excavation or proposed commencement of works to set up the LPG terminus without prior notice to consent, consultation or compensation to them and compliance with mandatory provisions of the law is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.
They are also seeking compensation from Taifa Gas for destruction of the environment, indigenous trees and vegetation and excavation works in violation of the law.
