The Environment and Land Court has declined to lift an injunction stopping the construction of a Sh16 billion Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal by Taifa Gas Investments SEZ Ltd at Dongo Kundu in Likoni, Mombasa.
The company, linked to Tanzanian tycoon Rostam Aziz, had moved to court seeking suspension of the temporary order, saying it was incurring massive losses.
Justice Stephen Kibunja, however, ruled against the application, noting that allowing construction to proceed before the matter is heard would risk severe environmental damage.
“The flipside is that the damage to the environment may equally be as great if the works were to continue as the applications are heard and determined,” said Justice Kibunja on Monday.
The contested order was issued on August 5, restraining Taifa Gas from cutting down trees, destroying vegetation, or undertaking any construction, including setting up the LPG facility, until a petition filed in court is heard and determined.
The petition was filed by Mohamed Karungu and Raphael Nyiro, who had initially lodged a similar case in May but later withdrew it on July 29 before filing the current one.
Through its lawyer, James Oduol, Taifa Gas argued that the petitioners secured the order by withholding critical information. The company further claimed that the petitioners’ legal team failed to properly serve them with the court’s directions, denying it a chance to respond.
Oduol also told the court that there were three previous cases at the National Environment Tribunal (NET) challenging the same project, in which requests to block the development were dismissed. He added that the ongoing stoppage was costing the firm Sh8 million daily.
Taifa Gas further asked that if the petitioners wished to sustain the injunction, they should be compelled to provide a Sh16 billion bank guarantee from a first-tier bank.
However, lawyer Jackson Muchiri, representing the petitioners, opposed the application, arguing they would demonstrate that the earlier petition was withdrawn in line with the law.
He insisted that service of documents to the company was properly done and maintained that the email address used was sourced from the only available website linked to the respondent.
