Sand
resource has provided a battle field between enforcement officers and sand
harvesting cartels in Makueni County over time. Sand is backbone in rural
agriculture ventures in arid and semi arid areas. Sand forms in slow processes in many years
but is often extracted very fast it accumulates in river beds following erosion
from upstream. Sand is harvested and is used in the construction of roads, land
reclamation, and buildings globally. Development of these projects provides
both economic and social benefits to the local communities e.g. provisions of
employment. The increasing demand for these development structures coupled with
the slow sand formation processes, can qualify it as non-renewable resource.
With
ever increasing demand for sand in the construction industry, our rivers which
form the main source of water for rural communities are becoming vulnerable day
after day. In Makueni sand seems sweeter and lose of life and destruction of
property come secondary to sand harvesting efforts. Mukaa Sub County the menace
seems to have taken roots and efforts to stop the practice have borne no
fruits. Makueni governor Professor Kivutha Kibwana and Mukaa sub county
administer Wambua Muthoka have been on the lead to ensure the practice is
stopped but sand cartels and armed youths remain defiant.
Makueni
county is strategically vulnerable due to its location near major towns of
Nairobi, Machakos, Thika and Athi River. The construction of standard gauge
railway stretching over 100KM in the county has increased the demand while
Nairobi Mombasa highway offers good transportation for the sand from the rivers
to market. The creation of Sand conservation and utilization authority board
offered the much anticipated retrieve but with time the performance of the
authority and board remain moribund.
Dangers of sand
harvesting
1.
Water pollution by Lorries
When
Lorries carrying sand pass river bed, they leak oils in the water. The leaking
fuel consists of heavy metals such as lead, mercury and sulphur which results
to toxicity of water resource. This polluted water ends up in human consumption
and aquatic ecosystem causing sicknesses and loss of life
2.
Induced soil erosion
There
are no permanent roads to access sand rivers and thus the truck for carrying
sand trespass farm lands and path ways; this loosens the top soil which becomes
susceptible to soil erosion agents such as wind and water. Soil erosion leaves
behind infertile soils which are not suitable for agricultural production thus
increasing the vulnerability of the recipient community.
3.
Reduced water retention capacities by
rivers
Sand
is the main resource that holds water in the rivers and when excessively harvested,
the water retention capacity is reduced and at times the river completely dries
up. Consequently this leads to scarcity of water to the community with high
repercussions such as reduced agricultural activities, walking long distances
in search of water hence loss of time and energy, loss of aquatic organisms and
reduced vegetation cover leading to advanced effects of climate change through
global warming and mal-adaptations
4.
Destruction of infrastructure
Sand
harvesting do result in destruction of roads in the targeted areas and other
utilities such as electricity and telecommunication lines. Lorries used to
carry the sand are relatively heavy for the weak feeder roads available in
rural areas and end up making such roads impassable and creating high soil
erosion. Other infrastructures such as bridges and gabions are destroyed during
the sand harvesting process. The cost of repairing and maintenance of these
public utilities is comparatively high to the benefits of sand harvesting
5.
Resource use conflict
Sand
resource commonly falls as community resource with no clear guidelines on who
is mandated to protect it; this makes it vulnerable as no one takes full
responsibility of protecting the resource. As the community members, local
authority and law enforcement officers squabble for the resource, conflicts are
bound to occur. This has been a case in Makueni county where armed youths and
police officers have been engaged in running battles to harvest sand. This has
lead to loss of property and life’s. In the last one month a number of community
enforcement vehicles have been torched and officers injured during sand
harvesting encounters. The determination by the youth to attack enforcement
officers shows the value attached to the sand resource.
Conclusion
One
of major responsibility of any government is to protect the its citizens and
their property, loss of life and destruction to communities in full glare of
government officers creates fear and despondency. Sand remains a resource in
Makueni and its protection from sand cartels is primary to the government of
the day. When rivers have dried and community members are starving the sand
cartels will have made their profits and disappeared, this call upon every
actor in Makueni to step up their efforts to ensure the water reservoirs in
form of sand resource in Makueni County are protected. The community members hold very important key
in the sand harvesting menace, them being the custodian of the resource, their
unity in save guarding the resource is key to curbing sand harvesting menace
Article by
Andrew Muendo Nyamu
Project Officer- Agriculture Innovations
and Climate Change
Inades Formation Kenya
contact: nyamu1895@gmail.com/ +254 722962986
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