Changing weather patterns! Ozone layer depletion! Melting ice caps! This has been the alarming news across the globe last few years. When climate change became a public concern a few years back, the media presented Kenya with the problem of deforestation and drying water basins. Campaigns and strategies spread like fire across Kenya. All eyes were on forests, water source areas and agriculture. Cities made of mortar, bricks and stones escaped the scrutiny.
With a growing concern on the impact on the environment, nations met to formulate policies on environment to cut carbon emissions and save the planet. Companies formulated eco-friendly strategies. Governments turned on cities to cut on the environment damages, thus the birth of ‘sustainable cities’.
Eco-friendly cities or sustainable cities are believed to have very minimal impact on the environment. The cities are planned in a manner that reduces all forms of pollution. The residents cut on energy/water/food usage to avoid wastage. According to the universal definition, Nairobi is far from being sustainable.
According to an officer with the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) Mr. Eliud Ngunga, the cleaning of Nairobi River has been successful but land owners who have encroached land adjacent to the river have frustrated the efforts to clean it up fully. He also added that, the transport infrastructure in the city was designed long ago without thinking of the future leading to the traffic jam problems. The build up in traffic increases smoke emission into the atmosphere leading to air pollution.
Nairobi is still far from becoming a sustainable city. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
NEMA has had policies vaporize due to contradicting interest. Such as phasing out of plastic bags to reduce environmental pollution was muzzled by stakeholders in the sector, who reported that mass retrenchment would occur due to lack of business. Lack of political good will has also frustrated the organization.
In a workshop on sustainable cities by Konrad – Adenaver – Stiftung in Kenya, the pool of experts from the civil society, architects and lecturers, agreed on the following issues as the main causes of the setback holding Nairobi down. They were as follows according to the project officer, Iris Karanja, lack of city planning, lack of knowledge by the common people, leaders not accessible to the experts and corruption in the country.
Planting two trees for every tree that one fells down was the best campaign in saving the environment. Laws and policies in Kenya are on the right track, the only problem is the implementation. Last year NEMA ruled that every garbage collection truck should be covered or else they will be prosecuted; yet open trucks still operate some even owned by the city council. When questioned on this, a NEMA officer said that people should report to them if they see an open truck, when asked of the penalties the officer said the court will decide (No set penalties?)
Everybody has a role to play in this, ‘This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are’
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