KENYA RAILWAYS AND CHINESE CONSTRUCTION FIRM ACCUSED OF TRAMPLING COURT ORDERS
(Posted 04th March 2018)
Kenya’s conservation fraternity, supported by a global wave of sympathy, has threatened to take both corporate entities as well as individuals to court when it became known that construction of the SGR railway route through the Nairobi National Park has started, prohibited by a court order halting any such activity until the main suit has been heard and decided through all the instances of the Kenyan legal system.
The Nairobi National Park is world wide the only such park within the city boundaries of a capital city and is a magnet for tourists coming to Kenya, often spending a spare day after business meetings and conferences to see wildlife close up.
In 2017 did the National Environment Tribunal issue an order a temporary halt to construction in the Nairobi National Park in response to a petition from environmental groups, a case which is still pending.
It appears however, according to social media posts by visitors to the park, that Kenya Railways and the China Road and Bridge Corporation blatantly ignored these orders and moved heavy equipment to the park and sealed off a section of it to begin construction in late February.
The conservation fraternity offered well researched alternative routes around the park which were however dismissed on the argument of higher cost, clearly sacrificing the Kenyan conservation heritage on the altar of fake progress.
It is now wait and see how the courts of Kenya will intervene, with the judiciary having found new independence over the past year with a series of rulings in the face of government. Conservationists spoken to have also not ruled out private prosecutions which could see top managers of Kenya Railways and the Chinese construction company dragged to court not only as company representatives but as individuals.
Added information on this subject can be found by clicking on the links below.
https://atcnews.org/2017/01/07/nema-blamed-for-shoddy-job-over-sgr-environmental-study/
