An environment and mining expert wants tighter control on artisanal mining with a view of protecting the environment from wanton degradation.
At the same time, Mr. Mwita Omahe, is rooting for stringent regulations for large-scale miners to ensure that techniques used are not harmful to the environment
In an in-depth interview with a Kenya News Agency (KNA) crew in Kehancha town in Kuria West Sub-County, Omahe revealed how serious Kenya’s environment is, facing the danger of being destroyed as a result of ongoing haphazard mining in the country.
“The uncontrolled mineral exploration and extraction happening in many parts of this country at the moment is an “environmental time bomb for Kenya,” he said.
Singling out the massive mining activities happening in Migori County, the environmentalist expressed concern at the wanton destruction of the general environment in the Kuria, Nyatike, Awendo, and Rongo regions, where gaping holes and Lake/river pollution are now risking the lives of the population around them.
Mr. Omahe, who is also a politician and the Migori County Branch Chairman of the Democratic Party of Kenya (DP), said that besides damaging the environment, uncontrolled mining also exposes the local people to serious health risks, for they inhale toxic substances such as mercury and cyanide.
Small-scale miners, he pointed out, did not have the capacity to conduct environmental assessments, making their investments a sweeping health danger to the current and future generations.
He claimed Kenya lacks adequate personnel to monitor the mining sector, adding that the situation has allowed the country and Migori County in particular to register many deaths and lifetime injuries as a result of suffocation and collapse of mining shafts.
In Migori County, more than twenty people died last year alone after being buried alive in collapsed pits while on mineral prospecting missions, and the accidents have been attributed to poor mining methods.
From Nyatike to Kuria West, Kuria East, and Rongo sub-counties, cases of youthful mineral prospectors dying in the mines have not been new to the residents, with large-scale prospectors being accused of exploiting the miners.
Although the small-scale miners have been in the business for many years, Mr. Omahe regretted that their lives have not indicated any remarkable changes since many still live in ramshackle houses and cannot take care of their children’s education and health well.
He said the many gaping holes left dotting mining regions were a big threat to human lives and challenged the government to seriously enforce acts of laws dealing with rehabilitation of the dangerous pits.
The ground on which the Kuria West Deputy County Commissioner’s office compound and the stalled Kehancha town stadium sit is on the verge of sinking any time soon due to the many underground tunnels dug underground by the artisanal miners as they look for the precious gold stones, he claimed.
But the regional mining officer, Mr. Joshua Boiwo, while commenting on mining activities in Migori, allayed fears of a worse situation, saying all the laws governing mineral extraction and prospections are being applied accordingly and that all is under control.
Speaking from his Migori office, Boiwo said that all stakeholders, like the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the County Government Environment offices are being involved in the control and management of mining activities in the region to ensure adequate safety for the local population.
He said that while there were numerous challenges to totally doing away with rogue players in the mining sector, his office has been able to ban all those miners who have gone against the safety rules governing the sector.
There are those who have not been keen to embrace the proper ways of disposing of their waste by putting in place the tailing storage facilities for those doing leaching, and we have dealt with them accordingly,” Boiwo explained.
By George Agimba
