Nema shuts down 4 hotels in Diani over water quality rules
Nema Director-General Geoffrey Wahungu and board chairman John Konchellah, during a briefing on the status of the Rapid Results Initiative on Effluent Discharge Licence, at their Mombasa office on July 12, 2019. The authority has closed at least 109 facilities across the country for non-compliance. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Galu Inn, Sea Breeze, Eden Palace and Kaskazi hotels, located in Diani, were closed indefinitely on Sunday.
- Nema's Kwale County Director George Oyoo said the hotels were earlier served with notices but declined to comply.
- He noted that they were operating without effluent discharge licences and that they had disregarded requirements in section 117 of the Environment Management Coordination Act.
- The director said the government was taking the crackdown seriously and would go for learning institutions, butcheries and hospitals to ensure compliance.
The National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has shut down four hotels in Kwale for failing to comply with water quality regulations.
Galu Inn, Sea Breeze, Eden Palace and Kaskazi hotels, located in Diani, were closed indefinitely on Sunday.
Nema's Kwale County Director George Oyoo said the hotels were earlier served with notices but declined to comply.
LICENCES
Speaking to the Nation by phone, Mr Oyoo said the hotels were operating without effluent discharge licences and that they had disregarded requirements in section 117 of the Environment Management Coordination Act.
"We shut down the hotels on account of non-compliance with water quality regulations of 2006 that require all facilities that discharge effluent into the environment to subject [the waste] to analysis in order to meet environmental management standards," he said.
Reached for comment, the hotels said they would issue a joint statement later.
CRACKDOWN
Mr Oyoo further said that the authority had also closed two petrol stations in Kwale.
He said the government was taking the crackdown seriously and would go for learning institutions, butcheries and hospitals to ensure compliance.
"Our intention is not to punish anybody but to ensure what gets into the environment meets standards," he said.
