Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Maureen Mudi
24 June 2011
Establishment of the proposed university near near Kaya Fungo heritage site must be approved by Parliament, a government official has said. Conservation secretary in the Ministry of Forestry Gideon Gathaara said issues relating to the land will have to follow the due process.
He was speaking during the forest law enforcement and compliance workshop organised by the Institute for Law and Environmental Governance in Mombasa.
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology plans to set up a campus on the land through Mombasa Polytechnic, its constituent college. But several conservationists, including the National Museums of Kenya and Kaya elders have opposed the project saying it would affect the values and setting of the site. Several meetings have been held amongst stakeholders, with sharp divisions emerging over the project.
During one of the meetings, Prof Josphat Mwatelah, the Mombasa Polytechnic principal said the institution occupies 27.5 acres and need more land for expansion. The NMK’s Coast Forest Conservation unit boss Antony Githitho said the Kaya elders had vetoed the idea but are allegedly facing alot of pressure. Sources claimed several politicians had a stake in the matter.
Locals had raised fears that leaders may have been compromised to accept the project. “While another campus at the Coast is welcome, the sitting is obviously problematic. It is directly within the buffer zone where activities affecting the values and setting of the site should be discouraged,” Githitho said.
Yesterday, Gathaara said the scale and type of development proposed will have a disastrous effect on the Kaya rural setting and its environs. “Besides, there is plenty of land available in the Mariakani including the area adjacent to the Mariakani-Kaloleni road, which is currently being tarmacked,” he said.
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