David Okwembah
5 August 2007
Nairobi — Two government regulatory agencies are in conflict over the development of a seven-acre plot in the up-market Lavington area in Nairobi.
The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is opposed to the development of a multi-million housing scheme while the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has given the developer the green light.
The ministry has asserted that the area is a wetland that needs to be protected.
In a letter to the developer, Dyke Holding Limited, dated May 21, 2007, the Permanent Secretary for Water and Irrigation, Mr Mahboub Maalim, cautioned that the plot on which the firm intends to put up 28 town houses is part of an "ecologically fragile riparian swamp".
The PS further noted that research carried out by the Ministry of Lands established that the plot stands on a swamp/wetland entrusted to the Nairobi City Council for conservation.
Fragile ecological zone
"Your proposed housing development would therefore be construed as encroachment on a fragile ecological zone, and interfering with the drainage pattern of the area," the PS stated.
Mr Maalim cautioned the developer against canalising or putting up any structure on the plot in contention to allow the swamp to continue performing its natural functions.
Dyke Holding Limited intends to construct 28 town houses and a clubhouse on the seven-acre plot along Chalbi Drive in the leafy suburb at an estimated cost of Sh180 million.
The four-bedroom maisonettes, which when done could go for Sh10 million each, will have luxurious facilities, including a swimming pool and a gym.
The project was approved by the Nairobi City Council, complete with drawings from the Director of Planning.
The plot in dispute is on the boundary of Lavington and the sprawling Kawangware area through which the Katina stream, a tributary of the Nairobi River, runs.
And while the Ministry of Water and Nema battle over whether or not the project should take off, the area residents have joined the war demanding that a perimeter wall already put up by Dyke Holding Limited be brought down.
Led by the vice-chairman of the residents' association Mr Peter Usher, they accused the developer of ignoring a Government directive and systematically destroying the wetland and interfering with the river.
"Protection of wetlands, rivers and swampland is vital to Kenya's future as water demand increases and climate changes," Mr Usher said. Mr Usher quoted the prediction by the United Nations Climate Panel that Kenya will change from a country with water sufficiency to one of water stress by as early as 2012.
The battle has also sucked in the environmental body, the Greenbelt Movement, and another private body, Starling Environmental Network.
The Greenbelt Movement, through a report by Prof W N Wamicha and Mr J Ndung'u, agreed with the ministry on its opposition of the project.
"From the studies of the soils, vegetation and birds, it was found that the site has the flood plain seasonal wetlands," the duo wrote.
They cautioned that special permission must be sought from the Ministry of Water and Irrigation if the plot is to be used to build houses.
The two experts also noted the existence of a stream channel on the plot which they said must be protected.
But Nema, which had initially stopped the Dyke Holding from developing the plot in February 2005, changed its position five months later and allowed the firm to go ahead with the project.
Writing on July 6, 2005, the then Director General of Nema Prof Ratemo Michieka said the developer was free to canalise the seasonal stream as the plot was not on a permanent river or wetland.
The approval was however subject to the developer meeting five conditions, which included strict adherence to the environmental management plan, compliance with the relevant laws, by-laws and guidelines governing development of such projects in Nairobi, and strict adherence to architectural designs for the zone.
Starling Environment Network, who were hired by Dyke Holding Limited, also approved the project.
Full audit
Eng William Kamau, who wrote the report, recommended that a full audit be carried out and submitted to Nema on the project commissioning.
Dyke Holding Ltd has a title deed issued on June 3, 1957, which was charged to Guardian Bank Limited on March 15, 2001. The firm acquired the title deed in 2003 when the plot was transferred from a Mr Pradeep Shah.
The company says it has acquired a loan from Guardian Bank which continues to accumulate interest yet it cannot develop the plot.
They claim to have collected samples from upstream and downstream for testing in the central water testing laboratories.
They also have a water analysis report from the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources showing that the water on the plot is waste water.
A spokesperson for the developer, Ms Naomi Kaisha, told the Sunday Nation that opposition of the project from the residents was unfounded because that plot is neither a wetland nor a river.
"If it is a river, how come it starts and ends in the Dyke Holding plot?" she wondered. Ms Kaisha blamed the City Council and some of the residents for diverting sewage into the plot.
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