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{
    "id": 55428,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/55428/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 305,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I rise to give a Ministerial Statement in response to a request by Mr. Kabogo, the Member for Juja. He had requested a Ministerial Statement on an accident in which four members of a family were buried alive at the quarry in Umoja Area in Thika Municipality. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the accident under reference occurred at Umoja Quarries which are situated within Thika Municipality on Monday, 21st February, 2011. It involved a woman and her three children aged eight months, seven years and nine years, who were buried alive by the loose debris of about three meters high which collapsed on them while they were digging loose hard rocks underneath for manual crushing of ballast. The locality of the accident was a poorly rehabilitated disused quarry. It is one of the quarries in Umoja Area which have been in existence since the 1980s either under continual renewal of land leases or new agreements. The site has attracted the neighbouring Umoja informal settlement whose inhabitants are mainly women who engage in producing ballast for sale to support their families. As I indicated to this House on 29th March, 2011, upon receipt of the news from the hon. Member on the death of four innocent Kenyans who were trying to make a living, my Ministry took drastic measures with a view to ensuring that no more lives are lost in the same manner in that area. These measures include:- (i) The three licensed operators of the sites were stopped from their operations until such a time when safety measures will have been put in place in their quarries to the satisfaction of the area District Environmental Committee. (ii) The three licensed operators were instructed to carry out environmental audits and submit their reports to the NEMA before they can resume their operations. The audit will tell us exactly what has been going on and what precautions they take. (iii) The owner of the parcel of land where the tragedy occurred has been advised not to allow small-scale quarrying without proper supervision. In cases where the quarry has been abandoned, proper land rehabilitation should be undertaken to the satisfaction of the NEMA. In addition to the above, I have instructed my officers on the ground to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Task Force on the Management of Quarries in Kenya. These recommendations are to ensure that quarrying activities in Kenya are sustainably carried out in a safe and secure environment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I conclude, I wish to inform the House that the dangers related to disused quarries is a national problem. It ranges from rock harvesting for various uses to sand harvesting. Please allow me also, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, to take this opportunity to appeal to hon. Members whose areas are affected to play a leading role in sensitizing their constituents on the dangers of the quarrying sites. This is a menace which must be tackled jointly by all stakeholders. I also want to say that it has been reported that another incident took place yesterday in Eldoret, where a woman threw a child into a quarry before jumping into the same quarry with another child strapped to her back. So, these are very dangerous spots that all of us must be wary of and we should be addressing them together. In the meantime though, I would like to assure the hon. Members that my Ministry will continue with its core mandate of co-ordinating all the lead agencies in the sustainable management of the environment, especially in the quarrying activities. Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}