Copyright 2001 The East African Standard (Nairobi)
November 7, 2001

Environmentalist Prof Wangari Maathai has attributed the huge losses in the country's main power supplier to constant destruction of water catchment areas.

Maathai, the Green Belt Movement Co-ordinator, yesterday said the country is reaping the fruits of sustained degradation and clearing of forest land.

The laying off of 1,700 employees and a Sh5 billion loss by Kenya Power and Lighting (KPLC), she said, is a direct result of forest excision and human settlement on water catchment areas. The destruction had denied the power sector its key source of energy.

In a statement, Maathai attributed reduction in water volume flowing into dams and the drought experienced in the country last year to the same factors. Error: Unable to read footer file.