Mathias Ringa
7 May 2008
Nairobi — The public hearing over the controversial sugar project in the Tana Delta district started Tuesday with the supporters and opponents of the investment coming face to face to argue their cases.
The hearing, organised by the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) to get views from both sides ahead of its launch, was initially marked by tension but later resumed with the intervention of local administrators.
DC Charles Monari told residents to air their views because they were important in helping Nema conclude its studies.
Mr Monari urged the locals to support the project saying it will create 20,000 jobs. More schools will also be built to help fight illiteracy, he added.
A farmers' representative, Serefano Nkaduda, said they supported the project because it will enable 5,000 local residents to become outgrowers on the 10,000 acres that had been set aside for them.
Watering
Residents stood to benefit from the project because Mumias Sugar Company has proposed to build social amenities such as hospitals, road infrastructure, schools, water and power, he added. He appealed to those against the Sh24 billion project to give it a chance "because it will transform the lives of people at a time when 60 per cent of the population are languishing in poverty."
The head of the Environmental Impact Assessment team Prof David Mungai also said the district stands to benefit when the project kicks off. Pastoralists who are the main opponents of the scheme arrived for the hearing with their livestock carrying placards and sugar cane demanding that the project, jointly owned by Mumias Sugar and Tana River Development Authority (Tarda) be called off.
They argue that it would deny the herders pasture and watering points. A member of the pastoral community Ababada Albado claimed that if the project goes on, pastoralists will be displaced from their land. He said that if the project was allowed to on it would deny them access to pasture and water.
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