Protests over planned Standard Gauge Railway route

Conservationists demonstrate along Lang’ata Road in Nairobi, yesterday, against the decision to allow the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway through Nairobi National Park. [photo: BEVERLYNE MUSILI/Standard]

A group of environmentalists yesterday held protests in Nairobi to oppose the proposal to construct a section of the Standard Gauge Railway through the Nairobi National Park.

Marching under the banner of the Kenya Coalition for Wildlife Conservation and Management, the protesters presented a petition to the Kenya Wildlife Service to compel the Government to use alternative routes for the six-kilometre bridge, saying the move would spell death for the treasured park. “Doing this will have both short-term and long-term effects to not only the park, but to the residents of Nairobi too,” Kahindi Lekalhaile, one of the organisers of the demonstration, said.