A parliamentary committee wants the Ministry of Lands to investigate errors in already issued title deeds before the government explores coal mining in Mui Basin, Kitui county.
The MPs, who sit in the energy committee, also want the ministry to investigate concerns raised by the area residents that land was irregularly allocated to strangers and a report on the way forwarded tabled before it the committee in 90 days.
The move, the committee says, follows an admission by the Ministry of Lands that during the demarcation of land in the coal basin area its technical teams made errors in titling and in the register.
“Ministry of Lands to resurvey and verify the land with a view to correcting errors in the already issued title deeds and investigating the concerns raised by residents on land irregularly allocated to strangers in Mui Basin and report back to the committee in 90 days,” the report reads in part.
Impact assessment
In a report tabled in the National Assembly, the committee also raised concerns that Ministry of Energy is yet to undertake environmental impact assessment studies and resettlement action plan in the area.
The legislators said the ministry should urgently form a new liaison committee to coordinate and guide the coal mining activities in the area.
“It is regrettable that the ministry is yet to reconstitute the liaison committee which is important as it supports the government to effectively engage the local community whenever it grants private sector licences to undertake mineral extraction and exploration,” they said.
The MPs want the ministry to carry out public awareness on coal as a source of electricity generation as well as expose local leaders on the international best practices on the use of clean coal in electricity generation by facilitating study visits to countries using ultra-clean technology.
Recommendations of the committee came after Mui Basin residents petitioned Parliament to have the project stopped on grounds that it would have adverse effects on their lives.
They said through research, they had learned that China had closed down 151 coal-fired power plants, while another 531 coal-fired power plants were closed in the US due to pollution.
According to them, the Government acted in bad faith by entering into a mining contract with Fenxi before an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was done.
The basin has coal deposits with an estimated value of Sh3.4 trillion whose discovery was seen as a major breakthrough in making Kenya an industrial hub like Germany and other European powerhouses.
But the project has stalled for years now since the award of a mining license to a Chinese firm, Fenxi Industry Mining Company, on December 2013 due to politicization.
