Kwale:Ministry of Environment extols Base Titanium Company!
PS Festus Ng'eno during basetitanium tour/Photo Caroline Kahonzi
By Caroline Kahonzi
The Ministry of Environment will be monitoring the Land restoration exercise by Australian mining company Base titanium in order to ensure the land is environmentally safe for conservation and agricultural use .
This comes after the mining company completed rehabilitation of at least 70 percent of the used land before extending its mining operations to other areas.
Speaking during the tour permanent secretary environmental department Festus Ng’eno said the National government has launched an ecological restoration program of planting 15 billion trees countrywide to attain 10 percent of trees and forest cover .
“ We are here today to see how base titanium administration has partnered with the community to succeed in the exercise of restoration ,we are learning how land reclamation is done here ,today together with community and base staff we are planting 500 seedlings ,”Said Mr.Ng’eno .
The PS confirmed climate change to be real ,so base titanium restoring the used land is fundamental in combating climate change effects .
“Climate change is unpredictable ,the rain patterns have changed, some areas receive high rainfalls after experiencing long periods of drought while some areas receive little downfalls ,therefore we need to work as a team with the community and local leaders to combat climate change effects ,” Emphasized Mr. Ng’eno .
Mr.Ng’eno urged base titanium administration to continue with the livelihood resilience program.
“I am pleased by the basetitatium administration regarding community support ,I know there are a lot of programs going on here ,Health programs ,Education programs ,Agriculture and other livelihood support programs including employment ,we understand when you do mining you will damage the environment but I’m happy that basetitatium is more concerned on environmental restoration ,”Added Mr.Ng’eno .
He appealed to locals to take advantage of the National government program of planting 15 billion trees to curb climate change effects .
Director general National Environmental Management Authority NEMA Mamo Boru Mamo emphasized the importance of protecting environment for future generations
“When mining projects are initiated there must be effects to the environment ,so before it starts NEMA ensures that a report on environmental and social impact assessment is done to assess the effects of the mining projects on environment ,locals and livelihood ,I want to appreciate the land restoration efforts put by base titanium ,it’s not an easy task , I want my team here in Kwale county to keep on supervising the exercise to ensure rehabilitation exercise is done as required ,”Noted Mr Boru
Initially base titanium had acquired 4,000 hectares for its mining operations before acquiring more land to extend its operations in Mafisini and North Dune including Bumamani .
Micah Muema, environmental officer at the mining company called upon different stakeholders to join hands in the process of rehabilitation for future use .
“We have a huge mining cite ,but it belongs to the national government , not to us ,we are hoping to complete mining exercise by December 2024 before extending to other areas of Mafisini and Bumamani ,we have put efforts proposing at least the area be set for conservation ,70 percent of that area surrounds 8,000 hectares we are looking at least 25 percent of the land to go into agricultural use ,”Said Muema
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