Nyatike residents want Chinese sand mining company shut down

Residents of Nyatike sub county in North Seka village have protested against the mining of sand through use of modern machinery by a Chinese company on River Kuja.

Irate locals accused the Chinese company of exhausting the natural resource which they say is a source of livelihood to many families in the region.

Also Read: Court orders Chinese company to shutdown mining operations in Migori

In January, another gold mining company owned by the Chinese in Nyatike was ordered by the court to halt its operations after it was established to be operating illegally.

The petition to evict the company had been filed by Nyatike MP Tom Odege.

The residents further want the Chinese company to stop mining the sand using modern machines saying that it is causing unhealthy competition in the business.

Henri Kisinga, a North Seka sand mining cooperative secretary who spoke for the locals claimed that the Chinese are being protected by the local administration.

Kisinga also said the sand mining machine used by the Chinese had been causing massive land degradation in the region where he also said that the locals demanded that the government intervene before they use other alternative plans to eject the Chinese.

The locals also insisted that they wanted their locals leaders to intervene and stop the foreign investors from mining sand in the region.