Residents of Kilifi County on Wednesday, February 14, came out to protest the construction of the multi-billion factory.
The Ksh12.7 billion mining project has since been put on hold after the Chasimba residents faulted the construction insisting that it will negatively affect the environment and their health.
While venting their frustrations over the planned construction, the residents called on the National Environment Management Authority of Kenya (NEMA) to immediately intervene on the looming menace.
“We have protested against the construction of the company for known reasons and one of these reasons is in this letter where we notified NEMA of our grievances," noted a resident.
The land on which the factory is set to be constructed holds a deep cultural significance to the society as it has been throughout their ancestry.
"This is a geo-cultural site and the land is also ancestral and cannot be used to build a factory,” noted a resident.
The distressed group noted that they had already informed NEMA of the issue in a letter but action was yet to be taken to stop the imminent construction of the factory.
Last week, Nature Kenya claimed that the company’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) team did not conduct an adequate feasibility study before moving to implement the project.
Nature Kenya in its report noted the construction of the factory would pose a threat to over 31 critically endangered local plant species, including Kenya’s endemic African violets, growing on the Kambe Limestone Belt.
“The ESIA lacks full disclosure of the biodiversity values of the area. Under the Global Biodiversity Framework, all businesses must disclose their dependencies on biodiversity.
“The ESIA has ignored the biodiversity studies and stakeholder consultations that demonstrate that the Chasimba limestone area is irreplaceable.” Nature Kenya claimed.
