SGR should not pass through game reserves, protesters say

The Standard Guage Railway at the Mwamdudu bridge fly over. The SGR is expected to be completed by June next year when it is expected to be commissioned. [Photo: Gideon Maundu/Standard].

Conservationists say the Jubilee government should use alternative routes instead of constructing the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) through animal sanctuaries.

Convener of the protests held at Jomo Kenyatta Public Beach Sunday, Mr Mishal Gudka from Cordio East Africa, said they will continue to resist the move to have the SGR pass through game parks in Nairobi and Rift Valley.

"Nairobi National Park is likely to lose its significance should plans to build a railway line through it be allowed to proceed. We are saying a firm no and hope our government will heed our calls," Gudka said.

Hamdi Keif Yusuf, a protester said:" Kenya's founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta asked the Maasai to give up the land for conservation purposes and they obliged. That is the sole purpose for which this land must be used."

Similar protests went on in Kili, Malindi and Diani where protesters argued constructing the railway line through parks will endanger animals and destroy the ecosystem.