Why Mai Mahiu residents want a share of sand revenue

Some of the sand transporters block the Mai Mahiu-Limuru road near the Italian Catholic church to protest a move by Nakuru County government to charges them for sand ferried from Mai Mahiu. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Sand harvesters from Mai Mahiu, Naivasha, now want a share of the revenue collected by the county government to support local projects.

The over 10,000 direct beneficiaries of the business accused Nakuru County of giving them a raw deal, with all projects that had been started by the previous government stalling.

According to them, part of the revenue could be used to finish the stalled projects, as was the norm before devolution came into force.

This emerged during a meeting between the elected leaders and Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja, who attributed the current crisis to poor leadership in the county.

The Senator noted that sand harvesting was the backbone of Mai Mahiu, employing tens of local youths and supporting hundreds of others indirectly.

She noted that the multi-million outpatient hospital started by former Governor Lee Kinyanjui had stalled despite the millions collected every month.

"Some of the revenue collected from the sand business should be used to complete the stalled projects, but unfortunately, the county has its priorities mixed up," she said.

Addressing the leaders, Karanja noted the county was collecting over Sh3m every day yet local hospitals had no drugs while street lights remained a pipe-dream.

On the Mai Mahiu flood disaster that killed over 60 people and displaced tens of others, the Senator said that the government had identified land to resettle the victims.

"The county set aside Sh57m to assist those affected but unfortunately, they were not supported, just like the people of Kihoto in Naivasha who have been displaced by rising waters," she said.

The Chairman of the sand harvesters, Isaac Njuguna, accused the county government of neglecting them despite the millions collected in revenue.

He said that the semi-arid area should benefit in terms of good roads, water, health centers and other amenities from the county government.

"As works on the Rironi-Mau Summit expressway kick off, the contractor should use construction materials from around and we are capable of supplying these," he said.

This was echoed by the organizing secretary Joshua Mathore who said that they should also benefit from job opportunities as work on the expressway kicked off.

"Sand harvesting supports over 10,000 people directly in Mai Mahiu, but for the last three years we have not benefited from revenue collected," he said.

The group's vice-chairman Fred Kareri, noted that despite the county collecting millions, access roads used by sand harvesters were in poor condition, adversely affecting transport services.