Residents want answers as sand harvesters ‘choke’ their lives

Residents of Karura village in Mbeere South constituency block a lorry carrying sand, protesting child labour in sand quarries on October 3, 2015.(Joseph Muchiri, Standard)

Everyday dozens of trucks loaded with sand labour their way from river banks in parts of Mbeere South to ferry the commodity to different parts of the country.

In the Mt Kenya region, sand from Mbeere is favoured in the construction industry for its robustness hence costs a premium, compared to sand from Murang’a County.

Thus you would expect people living near sand quarries to be thriving economically.

On the contrary, locals lament that sand harvesting benefits outsiders while leaving behind a trail of adverse effects in Mbeere villages.

During the dry season, the lorries blow clouds of dust, disrupting learning in schools. This escalated in January forcing authorities to ban sand harvesting temporarily.

Declining education

Education officials have attributed sand harvesting to declining education standards, where boys drop out of school to load sand to lorries.

Area MP Geoffrey King’ang’i and Mavuria MCA Ngari Mbaka have proposed that to end disruption of learning by the dust blown by the lorries, the government should tarmac all roads leading to the sand mines.

Mr Mbaka is also pushing a Bill in the County Assembly that would regulate sand harvesting to ensure every player in the chain benefits, while the environment is protected.

Mr King’ang’i wants locals to take charge of sand harvesting where they would transport it from the source using small lorries up to designated points along main roads and sold to big lorries for onward transportation to other parts of the country.

“We want the government to construct a road dedicated to sand transportation,” said the MP last week during a function at Igumori Secondary School. The school is a victim of chocking dust during dry seasons.

Embu County Education Board Chairman James Kanya decried the many cases of absenteeism as boys from poor backgrounds engage in sand harvesting to support their families.

Addressing education stakeholders at Siakago Girls’, Dr Kanya said they are seeking ways to ensure parents do not involve their children in the two activities. “When the economy slowed down due to recurrent droughts, they had to look for ways to survive such as sand harvesting. Parents should not involve children in it,” he said.

The Mbeere South security team banned sand harvesting in September last year due to the negative impact on the environment that had disrupted learning in 12 schools due to dust and noise. Area Deputy County Commissioner Beverly Opworah and OCPD Ahmed Muhamed announced police would patrol the area round the clock to stop sand harvesters and trucks.

The schools lie along the 48 kilometre Kiritiri-Kiambere-Karuura Road used by trucks to transport sand mined from quarries in Mbeere to various towns in the country. Students complained that exposure to the dust had caused them eye and respiratory problems.

Mbeere region is semi-arid and prone to droughts. The area becomes food insecure every time there is prolonged dry season.

Sand harvesting is thus an emotive issue; while a section of the community wants it regulated or stopped altogether, locals who benefit from the activity differ.

A while back, residents of Njigo area in Gichiche Location protested commencement of sand harvesting on the banks of River Muiru.

Led by Mbaka, who is their ward rep on Thursday, they complained that the activity would lead to drying up of the river and the water wells they had sunk in their homes to get water for domestic use.

Their demonstration thwarted sand harvesting only for a short while as the activity later swung into full gear and continues to date.

“We did not succeed in our efforts due to the cartels controlling the sand business. The only way to control the activity is by blocking roads,” Mbaka told the Saturday Standard.

Similarly, two years back, residents of Karura village blocked a road leading to sand quarries along River Tana to protest child labour and destruction of roads.

Led by community leader Njeru Wakiuma, hundreds of residents forced lorries carrying sand to pour it and prevented others from proceeding to the quarries.

Wakiuma said the residents want sand harvesting to stop or the activity be carried out by self-help groups comprising local youths, as used to happen in the past, to curb child labour.

Peter Njiru, an assistant pastor with the Redeemed Gospel Church in Karura said children harvesting sand were being lured into immorality by commercial sex workers who have moved into the area.

MCA Mbaka is confident that implementation of the Bill to regulate sand harvesting would be the ultimate solution to the problem.

“We are collecting views from the public. Once passed by the Assembly, the Act will stipulate designated loading and collection points for sand.

Everyone will be catered for while the county will be able to collect revenue,” he said.