Membley Estate residents reject establishment of asphalt and concrete plant

The 4,800 homeowners in Membley Estate in Ruiru, Kiambu County, have unanimously opposed the establishment of asphalt and concrete batching plant in the area by an Australian company named Strabag International.

Asphalt-concrete is a composite material commonly used to surface roads, parking lots and embankments of dams.

On Thursday, February 13, during a public participation forum held in the area, the Membley Park Residents Association (Mepra) told representatives of Strabag, who attended the meeting, that setting up the investment in the area poses great health risks.

The residents said there is the risk of air pollution, water and soil contamination, noise pollution and potential displacement of the community in an extreme scenario where air quality is interfered with and the area becomes uninhabitable.

''From the onset, all the home owners, and by extension Membley Park Residents Association, have maintained that they don’t want Strabag to set up a batching plant within the estate. We have many reasons, among them that this is a controlled residential area that houses seven to eight schools, 18 churches and health clinics.

"In addition, we are concerned about the implications of having the plant in the area — including health risks, noise pollution and eventually making the place uninhabitable.

"We maintain again that today, February 13, we have said no to Strabag’s intention to set up the plant in Membley,’’ Mr John Wachira, the Chairman of Membley estate, told Nation.Africa in an interview

Pros and cons

Mr Nelson Kimathi, who is a Membley resident, notes that while such a plant can provide local employment and support road construction, it will potentially lead to a decline in the value of the property and raise health concerns.

''The large, industrial nature of asphalt and cement plant can be an eyesore for many residents from heaps of sand, ballast and cement silos, affecting the aesthetic value of the neighbourhood,’’ Mr Kimathi said.

Strabag International has been pushing its dominance in the Kenyan market to self-produce construction materials after bagging multi-billion-shillings tenders from national and county governments.

On its website, it lists Ndakaini Dam, the Nairobi -Mombasa Road and Thiba Dam as some of its landmark projects.

''Our most extensive expertise in Kenya throughout the last nearly six decades has so far been in infrastructure projects and dams. Projects like the Ndakaini Dam (1993), the Nairobi–Mombasa Road (2006) or our recent Thiba Dam (2022) are landmark projects for outstanding engineering and long life quality with low maintenance costs.

"While our current core portfolio is mainly in dams and the water sector, our goal is to bring the whole range of Strabag’s services to Kenya and serve our valued clients – from infrastructure to geothermal, from water treatment and sewage plants to our renowned facility services offering,’’ Strabag International says on its website.

'Legitimate concerns'

Calvin Arum, who is one of the consultant for Strabag International, told Nation.Africa on the side lines of the public participation forum at Membley on Thursday that although the location of the proposed plant is ideal for his client, he had listened to the issues raised by the community and termed them as legitimate.

He, however, maintained that the buck stops with the regulator, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).

''What we are currently doing (public participation) is a normal process, getting the views of the community and hearing what concerns them. We did not come here to convince them but to hear their opinion and present their submissions to Nema, which will then make a decision based on public interest and whether the project is sustainable in the area,’’ said Mr Arum.

On July 21, 2015, local authorities in Gatuanyaga, Kiambu, shut down an asphalt plant over pollution concerns after residents complained that the emissions from the factory posed health risks. 

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