Four officials from National Environmental Authority (NEMA) have been found culpable of unprocedurally issuing licensing to gas refilling plant that caused the Embakasi explosion.
A statement from NEMA Chairman Emilio Mugo indicates that despite the premises being declared medium risk, the four officials bypassed findings that opposed issuing of a license.
The four are; Director Environmental Compliance, Acting Deputy Director Environmental Compliance, Senior Environmental Officer- EIA section and Head of Environmental Impact Assessment- EIA section.
Consequently, they have been ordered to step down from their positions with immediate effect pending investigations into the unfortunate incident.
“Preliminary investigations has revealed that four NEMA officers unprocedurally proceeded to license and are therefore culpable.
“The Board therefore directs that the implicated officers step aside immediately pending further investigations by the relevant government agencies,” read part of the statement.
Mr Mugo further pledged to work with relevant government agencies as investigations into the illegal gas refilling plant commence.
The refilling plant named Derdol Petroleum Ltd registered under Maxxis Nairobi Energy submitted their request for licensing in July 2020.
The Environmental Impact Assessment department within NEMA classified the plant as medium risk in July 2022 and forwarded their comprehensive report to certain agencies within the city.
They include; EPRA, Director of Physical Planning- Nairobi, Water Resources Authority, Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company among others.
Derdol Petroleum Ltd would then be issued with an EIA license on February 2, 2023 “with mandatory EIA license conditions for the project proponent to comply prior to commencement of construction works of the LPG plant/facility”.
It is however emerging that there were serious gaps in awarding of the license, NEMA Board revealed in the statement.
According to their findings, certain issues were unresolved at the time of issuing the license and found the four EIA officials questionable.
Three people were confirmed dead in Thursday night’s Embakasi explosion and over 300 injured. Some families are still searching for their loved ones who scampered during the inferno.
