News Just In: Embakasi Explosion: List of Gov’t Officials Suspended After Ruto’s Order.
News Just In: Embakasi Explosion: List of Gov’t Officials Suspended After Ruto’s Order: National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has suspended four of its officials in connection with the Embakasi Gas explosion.
The four include the Director Environmental Compliance and Acting Deputy Director of Compliance.
Two officers from the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) were also dismissed. These were the Senior Environmental Officer and the Head of Environmental Impact Assessment.
This comes after President William Ruto ordered the suspension and arrest of officials accused of negligence and issuing certificates of operation to the illegal gas plant.
Emilio Mugo, the Chairman NEMA Board of Management stated, “The Board further requests the relevant government agencies to commence an immediate investigation. The National Environment Management Authority’s Management is also hereby directed to cooperate with the already established multi-agency teams handling the incident,”
“We wish to convey our heartfelt condolences to the Kenyans who lost their lives and wish a quick recovery to the injured,” he added.
According reports, the gas plant owners forwarded an Environment Impact Assessment project report to NEMA, seeking permission to operate the Embakasi facility
This report was submitted on July 29, 2020. Two years later, in April 2022, NEMA forwarded it to various agencies for sectorial review and comments to guide on the licensing process.
Some of the agencies that were consulted include; Energy & Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), the Director of Physical Planning – Nairobi City, the Water Resources Authority, the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health, Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company and the Director of Urban Planning and Development.
On July 28, of the same year, a review of the project was done and several issues were raised with NEMA asking the gas owners to address them before another scheduled review.
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