Impact of Environmental Management on Project Performance- a Case of the Menengai Geothermal Project.

Abstract

Environmental management is proving vital in development. Gone are the years when projects were carried out without environmental impact assessments and audits. Today, the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and ISO Standards e.g. ISO 14001:2015 are utilized to deem a project fit before it is implemented. Environmental management has its pros and cons. Many individuals consider its downsides as requiring a large amount of resources, labour intensive and time consuming towards projects. The positive impacts of this practice include attracting donor funds, good public outlook, increased project acceptance, environmental conservation, mitigating negative environmental impacts that emanate from project development, just to mention a few. In the Menengai geothermal drilling project, environmental management is ongoing and with it has derived many incentives. These include acquisition of donor funds, conservation of the environment, community harmony as a result of accrued benefits and data collection for future use. This paper details the impact environmental management has had on the performance of the Menengai geothermal drilling project regarding its successes and setbacks as not much has been documented on the same.