The Makueni County Environment Committee has adopted environmental bills that will improve environmental management and conservation efforts across the county.
Among the bills that have been adopted include the Makueni County Sustainable Forest Management Bill of 2023, the Solid Waste Management Bill of 2023, Makueni County Environment Bill of 2023, and the Makueni County Forestry and Landscape Restoration Plan (FOLAREP) (2023-2032).
The bills will be escalated to the County Executive Committee (CEC) chaired by the governor who will deliberate on the bills before they are taken to the Makueni County Assembly for enactment.
The adoption of the bills was done at a hotel in Makindu Sub County in a meeting chaired by the Chief Officer Dr. Geoffrey Muthoka on behalf of the Lands, Urban Planning, Environment, Mining and Natural Resources Executive Committee Member (ECM) Mr. Nicolas Nzioka.
“As CEC you have a mandate to ensure the environment is conserved and proper utilization of resources sustainably,” said Dr. Muthoka.
The above bills and plan have been developed through the funding from partners like World Resources Institute (WRI), Reconcile, ICRAF and UK PACT Kenya among others.
“Once the bills are enacted by the Makueni County Assembly, they will give operational framework to environmental issues like solid waste management and collection, noise pollution, management of forests and environmental restoration efforts and sustainable utilization of county resources,” said Makueni County National Environment and Management Authority (NEMA) Director Vincent Oloo Ochieng who is the secretary to the committee.
During the meeting, members said that the 10-year plan will help in the restoration of the ecologically and sensitive degraded lands of Makueni especially to ensure the county plants 335 trees million in accordance with the presidential directive of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
The two-day event was funded by the World Resource Institute. The county assembly has also been sensitized about the bills which have also undergone public participation.
By Patrick Nyakundi
