The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) has vowed to squash on illegal sand trade that has affected rivers across Kitui County.
Speaking in Kitui on Thursday, the County NEMA Director Njoki Mukiri lamented that the vice is still going on despite a ban that was imposed by the County Government in 2018.
“We are going to implement urgent and radical measures to protect the natural resources as per national sand harvesting regulations,” said Mukiri.
NEMA swung into action after residents of Nduumoni and Kwa Masesi in Kitui Central took to the streets to protest illegal sand harvesting in Tiva River.
According to locals, the harvesting has led to the degradation of the river’s ecosystem. They asked the authorities including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the County Government of Kitui to strictly enforce the existing ban on sand trade besides ensuring that the culprits are punished.
