GAZETTE NOTICE NO. 3271

Pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Environmental Management and Co-ordination (Impact Assessment and Audit) Regulations, 2003, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has received an Environmental Impact Assessment Study Report for the above proposed project. The proponent, Kenya Water Towers Agency, proposes to construct an electric fence around the Maasai Mau Forest. The forest block lies within Narok County and is situated 21km to the Northern part of Narok Town. The northern part of Maasai Mau is bordered by 01 Pusimoru Forest Reserve and Transmara Forest Reserve lies to the north west of the project forest area. The fence shall be of Intermediate Design type and shall consist of between five and ten strands. It shall have a combination of live wires and earth wires. The bottom earth wire shall be looped to the upper earth wire and later to a tight lock underground mesh. At 200m interval, the wire shall be attached to a 2m earth peg with a joint clamp. All live wires shall be attached to strain insulators at strainer assemblies and tied by joint clamps and looped across king post to the next wire tied in the same way. Galvanized staples shall be used to attach earth wires and insulators to the posts. All wires shall be strained to a tension of 180kg. Standard galvanized joint clamps shall be used to join the wire along the main fence line and at corners where looping shall be necessary. All joints shall be tight and of figure 8 or reef knot joint. Impacts Proposed Mitigation Measures Impacts Noise and vibration Solid waste Surface water Wastes and effluents Proposed Mitigation Measures ensure treatment and/or removal of sewage wastes of. • Suitable facilities for the collection, segregation and safe disposal of the waste, and ensuring wastes are not blown off site by winds; • Waste collection by approved waste contractors and transferred to an appropriately NEMA licensed) waste management facility; • Dispose them offsite through approved waste contractors and transferred to an appropriately NEMA licensed) waste management facility; • Deliver to licensed recyclers; • Dispose them offsite through approved waste contractors and transferred to an appropriately NEMA licensed) waste management facility. • Minimal clearing of trees should be practiced. • Avoid felling large trees where necessary. • Avoid using heavy mechanization which would easily cause severe clearing of vegetation. • Totally avoid felling large trees listed in the red list of threatened species. • Avoid using heavy mechanization which would easily cause severe clearing of tree species threatened. • Conduct search and rescue of Shrews, lizards and skinks trapped by trenches and pit holes every day in the morning. • Establish a ramp for the species to climb outside from trenches. • Trenches and pit holes should not be left unattended for long to avoid. • The earth moving machines should be cleaned by cleaning them before they leave their departure points. • Monitoring of AIPS should be observed closely to identify and control their population before they start reproducing. • Grading should be avoided in sloppy (steep) areas to allow free movement of seeds downslopes. • The bottom wire should be spaced considerably high to allow cross-movements of small to medium mammals that disperse seeds. • Controlled grazing of livestock should be enhanced. • Vary voltage of lower layers of wires to levels that only excite the medium size birds (CP). • Creating a ground clearance (without electric wire) for ground movement by some bird species in between the forest and outside (CP). • Complete fencing across riverine areas should be avoided to allow for movements of elephants and other large mammals across the landscape. • A chance find can be reported by any member of the Project. Accordingly, if a chance find is encountered, the first course of action is to stop work in the vicinity of the find. Then the following steps will be undertaken. • Inform site supervisor/foreman. • Install temporary site protection measures Proposed Mitigation Measures (warning tape and keep off signs). • Inform all personnel of the Chance Find if access to any part of the work area is restricted. • Establish a localized no-go area needed to protect the Chance Find. • The National Museum of Kenya will be contacted to perform a preliminary evaluation to determine whether the Chance Find is cultural heritage and if so, whether it is an isolate or part of a larger site or feature; • Artefacts will be left in place when possible; if materials are collected they will be placed in bags and labelled by an archaeologist and handed over to the National Museum of Kenya; no Project personnel are permitted to take or keep artefacts as personal possessions. • Document find through photography, notes, GPS coordinates, and maps (collect spatial data) as appropriate. • If the Chance Find proves to be an isolated find or not cultural heritage, the specialists brought in from the National Museum of Kenya will authorize the removal of site protection measures and activity in the vicinity of the site can resume. • If the archaeological specialists from National Museum of Kenya confirm the Chance Find is a cultural heritage site, they will inform the project team and initiate discussions with the latter about treatment. • Prepare and retain archaeological monitoring records including all initial reports whether they are later confirmed or not. • Develop and implement treatment plans for confirmed finds using the services of qualified cultural heritage experts. • If a Chance Find is a verified cultural heritage site, prepare a final Chance Finds report once treatment has been completed. • While investigation is on-going, co-ordinate with on-site personnel keeping them informed as to status and schedule of investigations, and informing them when the construction may resume. • If mitigation is required, then expedient rescue excavations will be undertaken by the National Museum of Kenya specialist, except in the case that the chance find is of international importance (i.e. Critical Cultural Heritage). If an archaeological site of international importance is encountered special care will be taken and archaeologists with the appropriate expertise in addressing the find will be appointed. • The Contractor should develop and implement pre-employment screening measures for workers, which should include applicable diseases. Individuals found to be suffering from these diseases will need to be sensitized on prevention of transmission to others and management of the disease prior to mobilization to site. • The Contractor should develop and implement a HIV/AIDS and other STIs policy and an information document for all workers directly related to the Project. The information document should address factual health issues as well as behavior change issues around the transmission and infection of HIV/AIDS and other STIs. Impacts Solid waste Destruction of vegetation (cover, species and population) Potential destruction of population of threatened plant species Pit falling of small mammals, herpatofaunal and crawling invertebrates Introduction of Alien Invasive Plant (AIP) species along the fence alignment Disruption of connectivity and seed dispersal on the landscape Fatal electrocution of small mammals and birds Restricted movement across the landscape Impacts on Cultural Heritage Impacts Increased Transmission of HIV/AIDS and STIs 24th April, 2020 THE KENYA GAZETTE 1787 Impacts Impacts on Employment, Procurement and the Economy Loss of property and livelihood sources Proposed Mitigation Measures • The Contractor will make condoms available to employees and communities neighboring the site office during construction. • All project personnel should be inducted on a Code of Conduct that gives guidelines on worker-worker interactions, worker- community interactions and development of personal relationships with members of the local communities. • As part of the Code of Conduct, the Proponent should explicitly forbid all Project personnel as well as the Contractor staff from engaging in illicit activities including procuring of commercial sex workers which could affect the reputation of the Agency and or its relationship with communities. Anyone caught engaging in illegal activities should be subject to disciplinary action. • If workers are found to be in contravention of the Code of Conduct, which they will be required to sign at the commencement of their contract, they will face disciplinary action including dismissal from duty. • The Project should prioritize the employment of labour from the local villages in the first instance especially for unskilled and semi- skilled positions. In the event the position cannot be filled from the project area, labour should be sourced in order of preference from neighboring communities within the Counties. • The Proponent should adopt a fair and transparent employment and procurement strategy to avert any potential favoritism. The strategy should be well understood by local communities. • Employment should be fairly distributed among the local ethnic representations to avoid any conflict over the project. • KWTA should notify identified representatives of the County Government and Public Administration (i.e. the County Commissioner's office) of the specific jobs and the skills required for the Project, prior to the commencement of construction. This will give the local population time, prior to the commencement of construction, to identify persons with the relevant skillset to be employable in the Project. • The Project should prioritize the procurement of goods and services from within Narok County. In the event that goods and services cannot be procured from within the Counties, then preference should be given to regional companies. The Contractor should however aim at procuring locally available materials where feasible and use local suppliers where appropriate. • Job advertisements on employment and procurement opportunities during construction phase should be placed at the Public Administration notice board and applications to be done through this office. In the event that the position cannot be filled from within these villages and towns it should be advertised further afield (County-wide in Narok). • An inventory of affected properties including cost of purchase of land, land acreage under crop production and expected amount of crop harvest should be prepared to determine the level of loss and enable costing/valuation. • Further the process should identify persons who have been affected in this regard, with an Impacts Proposed Mitigation Measures aim of generating their socio-economic profile to determine which alternative intervention can be suitable to help them cope with their loss. • Consider implementing suitable alternative livelihood options as supported by local conditions and as proposed by the affected communities would entail: job opportunities in the project, setting up tree nurseries, tea farming, bamboo plantation, bee keeping for honey production, dairy farming, establishing medicinal herb garden. • The local leaders including special interest groups such as village elders, women, youth and indigenous peoples should be involved and consulted in identification of interventions and restoration of community livelihoods. • The proponent should purpose to build the capacity of local communities in sound forest management by way of training on participatory forest management, constitution of a Community Forest Association; offering apprenticeship to instil basic skills that can be employed in project implementation; hire local youth to work as forest scouts for income and as well as to portray community involvement in conservation and for sustainability. • Positive interventions geared towards capacity building and restoration of livelihoods may attract those who were not affected and these may in turn lead to competition for limited slots in the various opportunities. For this reason, the Proponent should work closely with the local leaders to ensure a fair, transparent and inclusive process. • Establish a community grievance redress mechanism to address concerns arising from the community. Insecurity • Employment should also be equal between all local communities, especially between the Maasai and Kipsigis ethnicities to avoid any conflict within the Project Area. • KWTA and the Contractor will need to liaise with the local security operatives and develop a security plan to protect the Project material, equipment and workers. • The Proponent should continue to undertake engagement and consultation, with the local stakeholders, in line with its stakeholder engagement strategy. • During construction, an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan should be prepared and implemented by the Contractor. The full report of the proposed project is available for inspection during working hours at: (a) Principal Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, NHIF Building, Community, P.O. Box 30126-00100, Nairobi. (b) Director-General, NEMA, Popo Road, off Mombasa Road, P.O. Box 67839-00200, Nairobi. (c) County Director of Environment, Narok County. The National Environment Management Authority invites members of the public to submit oral or written comments within thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this notice to the Director-General, NEMA, to assist the Authority in the decision making process regarding this plan. MAMO B. MAMO, Ag. Director-General, MR/0747564 National Environment Management Authority.