Raw Waste Ruins Beaches

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Brian Otieno

10 June 2011

The Kenyan coastline has become a marine desert because beach hotels discharge untreated waste into the Indian Ocean, environmentalists have said.

The environmentalists said there is little fish in the ocean as a result. This is a threat to the food security especially for families that depend on fish for their livelihoods, they said.

The National Environmental Management Authority’s director of environmental education and awareness Betty Nzioka said only a few hotels along the beach recycle their waste water or treat it before discharge.

She said the authority will soon crack down on hotels that do not have water treatment facilities. “We have a lot of facilities that have been discharging waste water direct into the ocean. We will soon take legal action against such hotels because they are polluting the ocean thus affecting marine life,” said Nzioka. Green Future’s Limited’s David Ondiege said most of the hotels have water treatment plants that do not work.

Ondiege called on Nema and other relevant authorities to conduct a thorough inspection of the hotels along the Coast. “Some of these hotels only have water treatment plants for strategic purposes. They are not functional. Their work is to fool the authorities that they have complied with Nema’s directives,” said Ondiege.

Speaking during the beach clean up exercise to mark the World Oceans Day at Jomo Kenyatta public beach, Nzioka called on beach hotels to acquire technology to ensure they treat their waste. She identified the Sun n Sand Hotel and Severin Lodge as some of the hotels that treat their waste water.

The environmentalists said pollution of the Indian Ocean might lead to serious effects including the extinction of species of fish and other marine life.

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