More than 500 conservationists on Saturday 29th October held a peaceful protest along Mombasa Pirates public beach against the construction of the SGR through the Nairobi National Park.
The more than 200 carried placards written:
Protesters Marching on the beach“Don’t destroy our park the park”, “Stop the SGR through the park, save our heritage”, “we have the Sh2billion to save the park”.
The protesters said they intend to petition Kenya Wildlife Service chairman Richard Leakey on the matter.
They termed the multi-billion project “absurd”, saying the railway line will destroy the park’s ecosystem and might displace wildlife from their natural environment.
According to one of the organizers Students from Technical University Mombasa said Nairobi National Park, the Construction of the SGR will destroy the ecosystem and the breeding grounds of the animals.
She also said the Standard Gauge Railway is going to displace many people.
Students from various institutions taking part in the demonstrationsOne of the protesters Hamdi Keif Yussuf said:
“The recent events caught us off-guard, we admit, and this new route is a whole lot worse than the route proposed in December 2015. The animals will be destabilized and will destroy the ecosystem.”
Another Organiser Mr.Mishal Gudka said:
“What they plan to do is perhaps keep everything under wraps and only shock the public by rolling out the project through the park.”
These tactics are aimed to get conservationists unawares with no room even to act, with the help of Friends of Nairobi National Park we held demonstrations in Nairobi, Malindi, Diani at the same time.
This is a call for people of Mombasa to support this cause.
A demonstrator Hamdi Keif YusufThey added that KWS has lost focus on its mandate and goals to protect the park, the wildlife and ensure the security of biodiversity in protected areas. It seems helpless to do its job.
Similar Protests were held in Diani, Malindi, and Nairobi.