Small-scale miners will supply construction materials for affordable housing projects in Murang'a county.
Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi said his department has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Housing Department for the miners to provide over 60 per cent of the materials required for the projects.
Speaking in Murang’a, the PS said his department is currently in the process of bringing the miners together through cooperatives so that they can benefit from the projects.
Only two miners’ cooperatives have been registered, as the state plans to register 10 with the help of the county government.
“By the end of the year, we would have formalised all the co-operatives so we can move forward with the plans,” he said.
The county has vast mining activities that include sand mining and quarrying that support thousands of residents.
Other artisanal miners are involved in pottery while others mine granite and clay for sale to tile makers.
Through the cooperatives, the PS said the miners will be empowered through training, financial resources and capacity building.
They will also be capacitated to add value to the minerals they produce in order to earn more money.
“This is why we are pushing the county government to register these cooperatives, which are devolved so we can start empowering the miners,” Mwangi said.
Miners will get funding through their cooperatives to acquire better equipment that will protect their lives and ease their work.
The PS said plans are also under way to set up a laboratory in the county that will be used to test locally mined resources before they are processed.
The national government intends to build 2,000 housing units in the first phase of the affordable housing programme in the county.
About 300 houses will be constructed in Kenol town, Maragua constituency, while 1,700 are set to be put up at Makenji area near the Thika-Kenol highway in Kandara constituency, as part of the government’s plan to construct 200,000 housing units annually.
