Nation Team
6 June 2006
Nairobi — Refugee camps should be moved from Garissa District to stop the encroaching desert, two MPs said yesterday.
Fafi MP Aden Sugow, who is also Water and Irrigation assistant minister, and his Dujis counterpart Hussein Maalim Mohamed said a 100 km radius within the three UNHCR camps in the district had been reduced to a virtual desert due to environmental degradation.
The leaders were speaking during the World Environment Day celebrations at the Garissa Baraza Park yesterday. They said the presence of refugees had led to the depletion of the ecosystem and with an invasive weed Prosopsis Juliflora, commonly known as "mathenge", caused drought and famine, killing livestock.
The MPs asked the UNHCR to find an alternative source of energy for the refugees, noting that UN agency only meets 30 per cent of their energy needs at the camps and the remainder is supplemented through the cutting of trees for firewood and burning of charcoal.
The assistant minister said despite a ban on charcoal burning, refugees were engaged in the practice and were smuggling the product into Somalia, thus depleting forest and vegetation cover.
The camps include Ifo, Hagardera and Dagahley in Dadaab Division. More than 140,000 Somali refugees have lived in the camps for the past two decades.
Environment minister Kivutha Kibwana, who led the national celebrations in Garissa, said the Government was concerned about environmental degradation in the district and would protect the region's fragile ecosystem.
The theme of the celebrations was "Desert and Desertification."
Prof Kibwana said his ministry and that of Foreign Affairs would liaise with UNHCR and other organisations to ensure sustainable management of the natural resources in the area.
He declared the "mathenge" shrub a national disaster.
In Eldoret, the municipal council warned of legal action against manufacturers and entrepreneurs involved in environmental degradation.
The council's environment committee chairman, Mr Charles Nyagoto, said they were concerned by the discharge of raw materials into rivers.
"The council has been monitoring the discharge of raw materials into River Sosiani and dumping of toxic wastes on open space with a view of taking legal against those involved," said Mr Nyakoto.
He said the council would spent Sh2 million to buy two refuse trucks and a plot to be used as a dumping site.
Uasin Gishu district officer Mutuku Muenga said a crackdown had been launched against those involved in illegal logging in the district.
He blamed the wanton harvesting of trees in public forests for the declining water volume in most rivers in the area.
"The Government ban on logging activities in public forests is still in force and stern disciplinary measures will be taken against those found flouting it," said Mr Muenga.
He asked sawmillers and companies dealing in wood products to take part in environmental conservation and afforestation programmes.
Lake Victoria Environment Management (LVEM) official Nancy Mbula called on the public to take part in conservation activities.
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