By Elizabeth Mwai
The Government has taken a flower company to court for alleged discharge of toxic waste into Lake Naivasha.
A ban has also been placed on fishing and hawking of fish along the lake.
Public Health Minister Beth Mugo yesterday directed an immediate inspection of the flower firm to stop any more emission.
"We cannot move the lake and therefore the flower farms must allow inspection and approval by public health officials or be shut down," said Mugo.
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The minister advised residents to be on the lookout for vendors who may sell contaminated fish to them.
Mugo said upon inspection by public health officials, a company was found emitting poisonous chemicals and raw sewage into the lake.
According to experts the fish were dying due to lack of oxygen caused by the raw sewage and the algae abundant growth of algae in the lake.
The minister said her ministry was working with the Fisheries ministry and the Marine Department to clean up the lake.
"Since the situation is exacerbated with fish dying, if they do not take immediate action matters will get worse," said Mugo.
Extinction of marine life
Environmentalists have cautioned extinction of marine life and drying up of the lake due to extensive pollution and overuse of the scarce water resource of the fresh water lake.
Earlier while issuing the ban, Naivasha District Public Health Officer Samuel King’ori said the ban would be in place until the cause of the deaths was established and solved.
"We have not established what the problem is and we therefore ban fishing activity in the lake until we get to the root bottom of this," he said.
Addressing the press after touring the troubled lake, Mr King’ori admitted the problem was serious.
He said selling fish in the lakeside town and its suburbs had also been banned as investigations got underway.
Samples taken
"We have taken samples to the Government chemist for analysis and we have started our own investigations," he added.
Confirming the ban, Naivasha DC Helen Kiilu said that security personnel would enforce the ban.
An eco-tour operator Mr David Kilo welcomed the ban saying the deaths had caused anxiety among consumers.
The death of fish was reported at Lake Naivasha in the past two days.Researchers from Kemfri have taken samples for testing.
