This archive report was first published on 18 October 2019.
Published on October 18, 2019, a Kenyan court has ruled in favor of the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) in a long-running dispute over the use of its sewer line. Three companies, Kapa Oil Refineries Ltd, Doshi Enterprises Ltd, and Decent Developers Ltd, have been ordered to pay a total of Sh11,664,000 for illegally connecting their sewer lines to EPZA's trunk sewer without consent.
Justice Oscar Angote criticized the privatization of water and sewerage services, stating that it shifts the State's obligation of providing clean water and environment to a few individuals who might abuse it. He emphasized that the right to a clean and healthy environment is equated to the right to life and that the State is obliged to provide resources to scale up efforts to provide safe, clean, and affordable drinking water and sanitation to all.
The dispute started in 2010 when several companies stopped paying fees to EPZA for the discharge of their waste to the main sewer line. The judge ordered all companies operating within the EPZ to enter into negotiations with EPZA on how they will be discharging their effluent to the main sewer line and to the treatment plant.
He also noted that there were many industries and homes within the industrial zone who have been illegally depositing effluent and that EPZA needs to take charge to stop the environmental pollution.
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