The government has been given a seven-day ultimatum to stop excavating community land to pave way for the Sh15 billion Nuno-Modogashe road in Balambala constituency.
The local community says it was not consulted. Through Ongoya and Wambola Advocates, Garissa residents have given notice of their intention to sue the Kenya National Highways Authority, National Environmental Management Authority and the Attorney General if their concerns are not addressed.
Community spokesmen Ali Baraki, Mohamed Ibrahim and Hussein Gure said they want to see the environmental impact assessment report for the project, minutes of the public hearing approving it and measures to compensate residents hurt by excavation. They said they will block further excavation until then.
The three say the government forcibly took community land and hired Chinese company Zhongmei Engineering Group Ltd to dig deep trenches and get building material without considering the environmental implications.
“They have taken part of our land by force without compensation and dug 30-foot deep trenches. They did not put any warning sign. It is a life threat to humans, cattle and wildlife,” they said.
