How Murang'a people were locked out of multibillion water project

A worker stands in front of Ichiche water intake tunnel which is under construction along the Gikigia River at Ichiche Village in Kangema ,Muranga County on October 18,2016.The intake is aimed to convey an additional water to Northern Collector Water tunnel at Makomboki in Kigumo Constituency. [PHOTO:KIBATA KIHU/STANDARD]

It is emerging that a technical committee report flagged serious concerns about the Northern Water Collector Tunnel long before the controversy around the project exploded.

A lobby group that first took the dispute to the National Environment Tribunal (Net) is now accusing the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and local leaders of turning a blind eye to the initial concerns about the project.

Earlier this month, opposition leader Raila Odinga raised the red flag on a series of implementation missteps.

Estimated to cost Sh6.8 billion in the first phase, the project has been controversial since it came to the limelight with claims that it would dry streams and entire rivers along its alignment in the lush, tea-growing upper Murang’a region.

The tunnel is supposed to add an extra 140,000 cubic metres per day to supplement Ndaka-ini Dam in Thika, which is the main supplier of water to Nairobi.

In the midst of a sustained but largely obscure effort to stop the project in Murang’a County last year, the local county assembly called for an environment audit that argued for careful evaluation of the project.

But this initial opposition floundered largely because of lack of support from the county government and the area’s political class.

The technical committee tasked with a feasibility study had left the fate of the project hanging in the balance after it concluded that it could expose the county to far-reaching water conservation and environmental effects.

It pointed out that the design could adversely affect water flow in the Irati, Gikigie and Maragua rivers, which are targeted in the project.

The team chaired by Water Engineer Wangai Ndirangu also recommended that the Murang’a County Assembly makes laws to guide the conservation of water resources and the environment in the area.

The report raised concerns that have now been amplified by politicians, notably Raila, that the project was designed to tap huge volumes of water that could endanger the downstream flows of the three rivers.

It also called for the project to be jointly owned by the host community and the Athi Water Services Board (AWSB).

The team submitted that it was possible for streams and springs to dry out when the tunnel ruptures its impermeable rock lining.

“Liquid rain water soaks into aquifers, underground water storage systems which are not replaceable once damaged,” says Charles Mwangi, an engineer who led a lobby group that first opposed the project and took the dispute to Net.

LOST FIGHT

The committee lost the fight when the project owners, AWSB, successfully challenged Net’s jurisdiction at the High Court.

AWSB argued that by the time the lobby group went to Net, Nema had already granted it a licence for the construction of the first phase of the project on February 9, 2015.

There have also been feelings that the effects of the project on local residents were not taken into consideration.

A lobby group claims that Nema reached its decision to grant an Environmental Impact Assessment licence and approval in breach of constitutional requirements of a fair administrative policy and without input by residents who will be affected by the project.

There were also claims that Nema failed to publish a notice calling for public comments after it received the Impact, Audit and Strategic (ESIA) report on the project.

It had also not published a mandatory gazette notice and press invitations so that the public could submit oral or written comments on the report.

“Nema failed to give effect to an entire population’s right to public participation in the approval process,” claimed an appeal lodged by Mr Mwangi.

Other grounds cited were that the Environment Impact Assessment licence was granted on the basis of inadequate environment and social impact assessment studies. The licence lacked the mandatory approval from the Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA).

As the specialised agency in the water sector, WRMA should have been the first to grant an approval after being satisfied that there would be no negative impact on water conservation, the environment or residents.

WORKSHOP FAULTED

The exclusion of downstream communities and other stakeholders such as the National Irrigation Board (Nib) and Tana and Athi River Development Authority (Tarda) during the six consultative meetings held in August 2014 also raised eyebrows.

Critics have also faulted a public disclosure workshop on the Environmental Impact Assessment and Resettlement Plan Action held at a Kenol township hotel for being an “invitation only” event that lacked an independent or impartial convener. They said the workshop participants were mostly laymen who did not benefit much from the translations of highly technical reports.

The group claims that the Environmental Impact Assessment report used assumptions to claim that the rock types in the area would not allow ground water seepage into the tunnel without any scientific studies on the rock structure.

Residents such as Samson Njiiri from Mununga village near the proposed Gikigie River intake now appear to vindicate the lobby group.

They claim that no public consultations took place in the area and that they are still unsure whether any compensation will be offered to landowners in the line of the tunnel.

“We are also not very sure how the extraction will take place without affecting the normal water flow in those rivers,” he said.

The river’s water volumes are already badly affected by the ongoing dry season.

Residents in Kigoro, Makomboki, Ichichi, Kanja, Mununga and Gatara villages said the project kicked off with little regard for their welfare.

They said daily labourer payments of between Sh400 and Sh500 were meagre and wanted these increased to Sh1,000.