Comments on the Request for Proposal (RFP) Stage Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Report for the Rironi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Highway
- Category: NECSA Memoranda
- Date 02-12-2021
The Government of the Republic of Kenya, through the Ministry of Transport, infrastructure, housing, urban development and Public Works represented by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA), being a state corporation established under the Kenya Roads Act, 2007 identified the need for the rehabilitation, improvement and expansion of the Nairobi – Nakuru – Mau Summit (A8) highway which serves as an access and transportation link for approximately 6 million Kenyans.
This project largely contributes to the realization and implementation of the PPP agenda in Kenya through the delivery of first – class infrastructure projects capable of meeting social and economic requirements of the people of Kenya in a timely, transparent and accountable manner as envisioned in the Vision 2030 blue print and the Big Four Agenda. The Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit highway shall be developed along the following precepts; the A8 Road component will be widened and rehabilitated from two lanes to four lane carriageways along the existing alignment from Rironi to Mau Summit (175 km) while the A8 South Road component will involve the rehabilitation of the existing 58km 2 lanes A8 South from Rironi to Naivasha. The scale of the project can be categorized under High Risk Projects under Legal Notice No. 31 of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (No. 8 Of 1999) Amendment of the Second Schedule of the EMCA 1999. Therefore, this project must be subjected to a full Environment and Impact Assessment (EIA) process.
The NECSA-K Alliance notes that the highway will pass through sensitive ecosystems which could result into negative impacts.
These ecosystems include:
- Forests
Kikuyu Escarpment Forest Reserve - a significant water catchment area
- Conservancies
- Marula
- Kigio
- Soysambu
- Protected Areas
- Lake Naivasha
- Lake Elementaita
- Lake Nakuru
- Koibatek Forest
- Mount Londiani
- Tinderet Forest
- Timboroa Forest
NECSA-K would like to flag the following areas:
- Londiani Forest
- Naivasha Wildlife Sanctuary
- Salgaa (Rongai River crossing)
- Soysambu Conservancy. (Meroronyi, Mbaruk river crossings)
If the project is implemented without due care, these sensitive ecosystems will be altered, resulting in loss of biodiversity, habitat alteration and loss of or change in wildlife migration patterns.
The NECSA-K Alliance reviewed the RFP (Request for Proposal) Stage Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report produced by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA) and made a few comments in regard to development along sensitive flora and fauna habitats. The detailed report is available for reading and download here.