The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has given TATU City a green light to proceed with the project following a satisfactory Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) survey on the land as per the proposed master plan.
The vision for Tatu City is a dynamic mixed-use environment that will be home to an estimated 62,000 residents who will have the opportunity to "live-work-play" within their community and receive 23,000 day-visitors.
While confirming this, NEMA’s Director General, Ayub Macharia pointed out that like preceding approvals, the project had to go through rigorous environmental checks and balances to ensure that the eco-system is protected.
He said, "We were impressed by the level of professionalism and global best practice TATU City has put in its master-plan. As per mandatory requirement, TATU City had to publish in a national newspaper the call for public comment on all the aspects covered by the Strategic Environment Assessment and validated by NEMA."
The approval is NEMA’s fifth SEA consent since its inception in 1999, TATU City is the first private sector project to go through an SEA survey.
The SEA survey is comprehensive exercise that includes an extensive survey of the site’s environment which includes the socio-economic, demographic and natural resources features. It evaluates the impact of the planned project on the environment, and reviews how project developers plan to manage potential environmental risks.
Macharia added that the SEA approval now allowed TATU City to undertake the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for the different phases of the master plan.
TATU City Limited Chairman, Nahashon Nyagah commented on the development, saying that this was a major regulatory milestone for the project which is still on course to break ground.
"We anticipate beginning works on Phase One infrastructure later this year or early next year, depending on how fast we procure all the necessary regulatory approvals by other agencies. The EIAs are the project’s most significant prerequisite for groundbreaking. With the SEA approval, we can now proceed to submit our EIA surveys to NEMA ahead of groundbreaking for phase 1A which will be the city’s CBD."
TATU City will have 11 different land uses with residential accounting for 60 per cent and the balance expected to be allocated for a techno park, institutions, commercial retail, and hospitality.
"Our intention is to offer TATU City as a trendsetter in sustainability and sound environmental management of modern cities in line with the aspirations of Kenya government’s Vision 2030," added Nyagah.
Source- http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000042682&cid=4&
