Dear readers, Presently, we are faced with a dilemma to either protect the wetlands or give them up for the sake of industrialization and development. There has been a minor scuffle between city tycoon Eugene Nyagahene, KCC and REMA. It has not gone well with city tycoon Nyagahene because his plan to build a city park was thrown out by REMA and yet KCC had given him a go ahead. REMA had an argument that the area was a wetland and therefore unfit for the nature of this investment. However, a compromise must be struck between the environment and the need for investment, which is one of the cornerstones for development. While priority should be given to local investors if they have the capacity, foreign investors bringing in hefty amounts may be considered because our economies are young and need to be jump-started for accelerated and rapid development. This notwithstanding, our environment too deserves protection as we thrust the country to greater heights in terms of capital investment and creation of jobs. Even government interest ought to take into account environmental conservation, because when the land has become desolate in the future, we shall have only ourselves to blame. However, the granting of land to Dubai World for their investments here is well thought out decision. Nice weekend. Ends
