Here’s how to participate in planning your locality

Recently, my neighbours and I received environmental impact assessment (EIA) questionnaires to fill in. The forms were distributed by a land owner who was planning to develop an estate on a nearby five-acre parcel of land that had been idle for years.

Most of us did not fully understand the significance of the questionnaires, let alone the process itself. In the end only a few people filled them in while the and majority were hesitant to fill them due to phobia and ignorance. As a result, most of us still had our forms well past the submission date.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

The Environmental, Management and Coordination Act, 1999 and the Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit Regulations of the Legal Notice No 101 of June 13, 2003 stipulate that any project has to be subjected to an environmental Impact Assessment and public consultation has to be done. The consultations should involve widely the affected members of the public and any other interest stakeholders.

An environmental impact assessment questionnaire is a form used by a lead expert to obtain views from the residents/stakeholders with regard to any development. The questionnaire, designed with mixture of open and closed questions, give the respondents an opportunity to state their environmental concerns before a project begins.

Their feedback largely guides the approving authority, in this case the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), whether or not to issue a permit. The expert is, therefore, required under the EIA regulations to append all these forms at the end of the report. By so doing, the expert has fulfills the public participation requirement as demanded by the law.

Mr Robert Koech, an EIA registered Lead Expert with Nema, says the client/ developer, working with the expert has the responsibility of carrying out public consultation in an EIA process. It is important to note that the consultation is part of an elaborate EIA process undertaken by the expert on behalf of the client that entails a comprehensive field survey and analysis of various existing environmental parameters in order to determine the extent to which the proposed project will affect an area thus propose the appropriate mitigation measures.

Koech says that residents should take the exercise seriously by indicating all their concerns in order to address unforeseen future conflicts, adding that Nema takes their input very seriously. If, for some reason, the residents feel that their issues will not be adequately captured through the questionnaires, they have a right to request the expert for a formal discussion, which is captured in the form of minutes.

Each participant is required to be objective in answering the questions, which include how long someone has been a resident in the area, their fears regarding the project, and its possible impact on the environment.

OPPORTUNITY TO BE  HEARD

The environmental assessment questionnaires also give respondents an opportunity to present their suggestions and proposals on mitigating any unforeseen negative impacts that might be brought about by the project.

If the proposed project adds value environmentally, economically, socially and culturally to neighbouring individuals, businessmen, learning institutions and the society at large, this is noted as a value booster for the particular location.

In the case of our neighbourhood, we were worried about waste disposal and sewerage since the area does not have a sewer line. However, the developer assured us that he had a good plan for recycling and reusing waste, and He invited all the residents to the site for a graphical presentation on the project.

We also insisted that the developer comply with the regulations in the area, which forbid the construction of buildings with more than two floors.

But there are cases where developers disagree with the residents if they feel the project will have negative impacts on the community. This often leads to court cases, some of which lead to the cancellation of a project.

Ideally, a developer should give the residents an opportunity to present their concerns and come up with an amicable way of addressing their fears and concerns. Compliance on specifics is key to ensuring that projects are not harmful to residents.

Elizabeth Mulae is the PR/Communication officer at the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya