A hotelier has taken the Homa Bay County Authorities to court docket over the development of a fish manufacturing unit and market, which has allegedly encroached on his parcel of land, blocking the resort’s view and entry to Lake Victoria.
Homa Bay Vacationer Resort says, in a case filed on the Setting and Land Court docket, that the development of the fish facility in Kanyada is a manifestation of poor planning, because it has the potential to extend the lakefront zone’s vulnerability and destroy the habitat.
The hotelier stated excavation and building of a fish manufacturing unit by the county authorities, proper on the shoreline would possibly find yourself interrupting the pure sedimentary cycle of the shoreline.
“I can authoritatively state that the first defendant (county authorities) building of a fish market on the plaintiff’s lakefront parcel has the web impact of tampering with the pristine nature of the lake shore and altering the seashore not simply by way of the shape but in addition because of potential discharges with the excessive chance that the resultant sanitary scenario within the fish market could also be a risk to the general public well being and the encircling setting,” Maxwel Otieno Odongo, managing director of the resort stated in an affidavit filed in court docket.
Apart from, Mr Otieno stated the development of the fish facility has the potential to destroy the resort enterprise but he has plans of growing it right into a first-class multimillion-shilling vacation resort.
The hotelier stated he has sought funding of Sh3 billion to assemble a 350-room resort, supposed to provide the residents a view of the attractive surroundings of the Lake Victoria waters and seashore from their rooms.
Justice GMA Ong’ondo licensed the case as pressing and directed lawyer Kenneth Amondi to serve the court docket papers upon the Homa Bay County authorities, Lawyer Basic Justin Muturi and Principal Secretary Lands and Bodily Planning.
The choose directed the case to be talked about in April 10 for instructions.
Mr Amondi submitted that it was unusual for the county authorities, which is beneath an obligation to craft insurance policies that can develop Lake Victoria waterfront as a means of boosting tourism and funding within the Western Kenya Circuit, to as a substitute choose to dam the identical by creating an incongruent ambiance for the operations of the resort.
He stated Homa Bay Vacationer Resort is a significant participant in Western Kenya tourism and in collaboration with the nationwide authorities to make sure that the Lake Victoria waterfront in Homa Bay is developed, packaged and marketed in a bid to spice up tourism throughout the circuit.
He stated the resort is the proprietor of the parcel often known as Kanyada/Kotieno/Katuma b-371 measuring 7.81 hectares (inclusive of the riparian land) however the county authorities has compromised the resort’s proprietary and littoral rights by fencing and changing near half of its property right into a building web site and establishing a fish manufacturing unit in part of it.
He additional stated the federal government has presupposed to create a title of the riparian land with out its consent and within the course of blocked its entry, use or view of Lake Victoria.
“The article of the resort is to supply an idyllic tropical paradise with beachfront rooms that might grant company beautiful views of turquoise waters and pristine white sand seashores replete with a spread of actions, together with sundown cruises that might permit company to totally immerse themselves in the fantastic thing about their environment,” Mr Otieno stated in an affidavit.
