Careless sand harvesting and encroachment of road reserves interfere with road development in Homa Bay, the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) has said.
KeNHA noted that there are people who harvest sand near the already constructed roads so carelessly that they end up destroying them in Homa Bay.
Areas, where roads are frequently destroyed by sand harvesting activities, include Karachuonyo, Suba North and Ndhiwa constituencies.
The agency said they want to engage residents in sensitization programmes in the areas to ensure they reduce the impact.
The programme entails the significance of safeguarding roads and road reserves.
Nyanza regional director at KeNHA Julius Makodero said the destruction of roads normally impedes their development and sometimes leads to cause of accidents.
“Sensitizing residents is one of the ways of safeguarding roads and road reserves. We want people to stop harvesting sand near the roads,” Makodero said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the sensitisation forum in Homa Bay town on Monday, Makodero who was accompanied by Homa Bay county commissioner Moses Lilan and Rongo and Busia weighbridges operations officer Maurice Ademba said they will engage in serious monitoring of roads.
They warned people against misusing roads during sand transport in the county.
He said some human-like cultivation and mining of stones and other activities block culverts which causes erosion of parts of a road.
“Let residents stop all the activities that impede road development in Homa Bay. We’re working closely with security officers and other agencies for effective monitoring to eradicate road destruction,” he added.
Lilan argued that harvesters and transporters contribute greatly to road destruction in Homa Bay.
He called on people who harvest sand as their economic activity to do it with decorum without damaging public properties.
