Odinga, who was speaking in Nairobi, said that the restoration of the water towers was irreversible and that government would do everything possible to ensure that relocation of the settlers from forests was done as humanely as possible.
He was reacted to serious criticism mounted by legislators, accusing the government of handling the matter in an inhumane manner.
Some of the harshest critics of the premier's stand on the matter is Agriculture Minister William Ruto, a senior official of the Odinga-led Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).
Odinga is the leader of the party, while Ruto is one of the two deputy party leaders.
Legislators from the Mau Complex and surrounding areas, are slamming the government for evicting the illegal settlers and dumping them by the roadside.
But the government maintains that nobody has been evicted from the complex as the residents have voluntarily moved out of the forest because they understood the importance of conserving the environment.
The government is also providing food, medicine and transporting settlers to their ancestral home. Those who claim to have no alternative, have camped on the edges of the forest.
He said: "We are not inconsiderate to subject people to suffering. We will do it as humanely as possible, but government efforts must not be frustrated by a few selfish politicians who are doing it for political reasons."
Saying the government needed the support of all Kenyans in these efforts, the PM pointed out that restoration was also underway in other water towers of Mt. Kenya, the Aberdares (both in central Kenya and Cherangany and in Mt. Elgon in western parts of the country).
He said the country was poised to become a green economy by the year 2020.
"That is why we are going to Copenhagen (climate change summit) with concrete plans. We must succeed in Copenhagen; we are not going to do blame games of who are the polluters of yesterday. We must commit ourselves to specific goals informed by science that we must save the globe," he added while opening the green energy electricity conference, organized by the government in conjunction with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
He invited private investors to develop geothermal fields in Kenya, saying the country had the potential to provide 7,000 MW of clean and reliable geothermal energy.
Noting that 90 per cent of the wells so far drilled had steam in sufficient quantity and in high temperature, the PM told investors to discard the notion that it was risky to invest in the development of geothermal energy in Kenya.
He said, "I note in particular the enormous potential in geothermal, which if explored, we can easily provide 7,000MW of clean and reliable energy."
He added, however, that the government would not wait indefinitely for investors and was prepared to allocate a large amount of its own resources as well as borrow to develop geothermal fields in the country as rapidly as possible.
Saying Kenya must seek to develop power with reasonable tariffs that can translate to reduced costs to end users, the PM emphasized that the country would not compete in the global market with high cost of electricity.
In this regard, Odinga said the country's potential to generate a combined 2,000 MW of electricity from wind, solar and bio mass should be explored.
Reiterating that the development green energy required large amounts of funds, the PM appealed to development partners to be more flexible with their terms and release funds much faster than was the case now.
"We must seek to develop and bring on board power with reasonable tariffs that can translate to reduced costs to end-users. Without it, Kenya would not compete in the global market. We would not attract the investment we so badly need," he said.
The Prime Minister further noted that Kenya should seriously pursue nuclear power as it develops the right mix of green energy over the next 10 years, saying the benefits of nuclear power as a climate-friendly energy source were unparalleled.
He assured that the government would not compromise the safety of Kenyans for the sake of having more power, noting the country would develop best policies in order to have requisite energy planning and waste management and to ensure safe transportation of radioactive materials.
Nairobi - 23/11/2009
Pana
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