I am reading that the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) is overseeing mass destruction of Ngong forest
Ni kweli ama porojo?
If true then Nairobi will be facing severe water shortages soon.
Hii tulisoma Sunday.
hizi v8 zimejaa barabarani ni kama zinapeanwa bure unadhani zinatoka wapi?
wivi msee. Na ule jamaa wa mashamba ujue halali
@gashwin @Wakanyama @Mathaais @Da Vinci @Nattydread @spear… Kujeni muone nyama ikikuliwa alafu mcheke like pregnant senseless hyenas., , SAD
hata nyinyi muliharibu yenu huko kakamega wacha tuharibu yetu,next ni karura,mama ngilu alinifunza kujibu maswali namna hiyo
By VINCENT ACHUKA
More by this Author
A shocking orgy of destruction is taking place inside the iconic Ngong Forest as gangs of loggers cut down trees on a massive scale under the protection of security agencies, the Sunday Nation reveals.
In what could be the biggest logging exercise on gazetted land in recent years, hundreds of acres of indigenous trees located within the capital have been harvested and are still being felled at a fast rate under the watch of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS).
It is unclear who is behind the logging but the presence of officers who are supposed to protect the forest but are instead guarding the loggers raises questions and points to the involvement of influential individuals.
In a sign of the level of destruction taking place, what was a small patch of bare land the size of a football pitch when the Sunday Nation first ventured into the Karen-Dagoretti Section of the forest six months ago, has now grown into hundreds of acres of empty space when our team visited last Wednesday.
And in some sections where trees have already been felled, large-scale maize plantations with faceless owners now cover the area putting KFS, which has a huge station in the forest, on the spot.
The felled trees include both indigenous and exotic ones that were planted in the 1990s as part of reforestation efforts by lobby groups.
This has left the edges of the large forest between Dagoretti and Karen as the only areas with tree cover but from about 100 metres inside exists a thriving underground mini-economy providing employment to hundreds of lumberjacks, loaders, drivers, farmhands, contractors, firewood brokers and even women who sell food to the workers.
Multiple sources claim that the maize plantations are being used as holding markers for influential grabbers who have already allocated themselves land in the forest.
Worse, some sections where trees have already been cut have been fenced off raising questions on how public land under the watch of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has managed to change hands.
The particular section in question lies on prime land between the Southern bypass and the affluent Karen neighbourhood where the cost of acquiring land is the second highest in the country, with an acre going for Sh50 million in some places.
NO SUCH THING
Shockingly, despite the visit by our team and photographic evidence, on Friday the authorities insisted that no trees have been cut.
KFS Commandant Alex Lemarkoko, who had been referred to the Sunday Nation by Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu following our enquiries, said that truckloads of poles leaving the area are from a wood treatment plant run by KFS.
“Those are treated poles that are originating from our treatment plant which is next to our office along Ngong Road at Lenana. There is a contractor that has been licensed to treat electricity power transmission poles for Kenya Power, who asked us to allow him to use our plant, which is normal,” Mr Lemarkoko said.
“People bring raw poles to be treated. What you are likely to have seen are poles with a flat metallic tag which is likely from the contractor for identification. They are not from the forest,” he said.
We saw such poles with the metallic tags he was referring to being loaded into waiting trucks while others were on the ground.
However, the Kenya Power has denied the claims by KFS, saying it has never and does not allow its contractors to source trees from forests.
“First of all, no one is allowed to harvest trees from Ngong Forest. We only use trees from commercial suppliers and most of them come from the North Rift,” Johnstone Turana, the electricity distribution company’s spokesman, said.
“KFS guys are just being lazy blaming us for trees that have been cut. They are supposed to arrest those guys. How can they claim that we are accepting trees cut from indigenous forests?” he asked.
Sources aware of the goings-on in the forest say it has been like
Wacha kujipiga own goal msee. Shiny eye pc Dave mwangi ndio alimaliza maragoli forest. Uliza @gashwin… Ningekua na uwezo haki! Ningemuingisha mti ya cactus kwa mkundu and watch him die a slow painful death. .aoze akiwa hai na hio mti kwa mkundu. Death by tree. I’m very passionate about the environment btw. Don’t judge me
Sio poa kuharibu mazingira
Kama si ujinga wa the so called conservationists, Nairobi could have been home to the tallest building in Africa, if not in the world! Imagine zile employment opportunities mlipotezea wananchi wa hii nchi na ujinga ule!
Bana! Na ujue huyu jamaa anaharibu huku na kwao North Rift ni green kama paradise
Well and good. Kama wewe hutoa maji yako chini ya times towers ni sawa.
Sio ruto ni yule gavana Wa Nakuru ,ako na boma hapo
Apologies are in order. Lakini sikutaja mtu
Umereason utoto sana. Lazima wangejenga kwa forest? Ama kwa Park?
Do you have a brain or still trying to grow one?
Nairobi is already experiencing a glut in office space. Why isn’t all that unoccupied office floor generating opportunities for the youth or how exactly would that tower have been different?
Huko wakijikatia hata sisi tutajikatia,afadhali watumalize
Kwa nini wewe, Uncle, hupata rahisi kutukana watu namna hiyo?
Pole bro naomba msamaha kwa matusi lakini ni vile kuna vitu watu husema hapa nashindwa sana
Boss, Kakamega Forest is still intact.
Nairobi also belongs to us, just as much as it belongs to you! We might pretend that we love nature more than nature loves itself, but what is inevitable is inevitable! The humans are also part of that nature and they say that nature takes its course. Building high rise buildings is fast becoming human nature.
It is also my nature not to insult anyone impulsively!