The National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) been hitting headlines over the recent past, with it successful managing to ban use of plastic bags. After going silent when it unsuccessful tried to bring down Sifa apartments in Embakasi on allegations of standing on riparian land, the authority has stroke back. NEMA has given Kiamaiko goat market traders one year to find an alternative site for business, but why?
The National Environmental Management Authority says the popular market is not suitable for hygienic slaughter and will soon be closed.
The closure was revealed in a report tabled last week in the Nairobi County Assembly by the Trade committee after visits to city markets.
It says the market 12km northeast of the capital is on private land leased to the traders to hold goats and sheep for slaughter.
During the site visit, traders informed the committee they do not pay tax to the county.
The committee said the market lacked water,lavatories and lights. There were no county health offices at the market.
Chairman of the trade committee Charles Thuo said the county was seeking land to relocate the traders. “Kiamaiko has seen jobs and small businesses flourish as a result of the goat market,” Thuo told a local daily yesterday.
In April Nema closed all slaughterhouses in Kiamaiko for not complying with health regulations. They lacked pre-treatment facilities and channelled waste directly into the Nairobi River.
Kiamaiko market in Eastlands area is popular for its steady supply of goat meat.
The traders have been on site since 1996. There were plans to relocate to Kangundo Road where slaughterhouse construction had started but was delayed by the General Election last year.
The report also says revenue collection at the City Market in the CBD has decreased due to the exit of chicken and fish traders. The county now generates an average monthly revenue of Sh80,000 from Sh120,000 there.
A pending court case concerning the ownership of the market was also discovered. The market was said to be under private management and part of it was converted into a parking lot charging Sh300 per day.