This archive report was first published on 25 May 2020.
Published on May 25, 2020, a group of Kileleshwa residents have taken the government and Lempiras Limited to court over a planned petrol station in their residential area.
The residents claim that constructing a petrol station in the area poses a serious threat to their health and safety, particularly given the presence of two schools in the vicinity.
According to the case filed before the High Court in Nairobi, Lempiras Limited obtained approvals from the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) without conducting a proper environmental impact assessment.
The residents, who include Symon Wangombe, Joseph Macharia, Zhao Jian, Stephen Maingi, Sarah Omondi, and Crispin Muriithi, argue that the government failed to ensure public participation in the decision-making process.
They also claim that there is no proof that the land where the petrol station is being constructed was ever changed from a residential plot.
“The act of Lempiras is prejudicial to the residents’ rights to a clean and safe environment and poses a serious risk to their right to life and health, fair administrative action, equal benefit and protection of the law and if they are not addressed expeditiously, the violation will continue for an inordinately long time,” the residents argued.
