- Okiya said the Nema should also intervene by controlling the business in order to protect rivers where the product is harvested from.
- The sand collected in the county is ferried to as far as Eldoret, Nakuru and Naivasha.
Senator-elect Okiya Omtatah has said the county government of Busia must get tough on traders harvesting sand from the area and ferrying it outside without paying tax.
At the same time, he said the National Environment Management Authority should also intervene by controlling the business in order to protect rivers where the product is harvested.
Busia, Okiya said, can generate revenue from the sand business which can be spent on development projects beneficial to residents.
“All the sand harvested in Busia must be collected with express authority from Nema because we must ensure as the sand is collected, our water sources are not affected in any way,” the Senator-elect said.
“Whoever harvests sand in Busia must pay tax to the county government so that the money can help our people.”
“That resource of sand that we have should be protected and if we cannot utilise it, then let it remains in our rivers. We must protect our water sources as we also ensure that tax is paid to the county government. Nema must ensure when this sand is harvested, our water sources are not destroyed.”
Busia is among counties with a booming business in sand harvesting.
The sand collected in the county is ferried to as far as Eldoret, Nakuru and Naivasha.
Okiya said the County Assembly should institute legislation to control sand harvesting, a business he said was exploitative to residents who are engaged in harvesting the product.
A law, he said, should be passed by the County Assembly spelling how much money traders pay at points where the sand is collected.
He said the local authority must also be tough on parents who engage school children in sand harvesting.
“The business is exploitative,” Okiya said.
“We cannot have business people coming from outside the county to fetch sand at throw away prices.”
Sand acquired at Sh2,500 in Busia retails in Nakuru and Naivasha at between Sh30,000 and Sh40,000 depending on the location of the client buying.
The sand is classified as among the best in the country since it’s river water-washed.
The Senator-elect was speaking at Kiwimbi Library in Amagoro, Teso North subcounty on Saturday during celebrations to mark the library’s tenth anniversary.
Among other guests who graced the event were Kisumu First Lady Dorothy Nyong’o and a team of academic enthusiasts from the US.
LOCAL RESEARCH
Okiya said there was need for Kenya and other African countries to utilise local resources for growth other than rely on Western countries for aid.
“We need to push hard for research so that we are able to know what we have as well as know how we can utilise what we have to grow our economies other than rely on Western countries for development,” he said.
“For Kenya and Africa to realise the change that all of us long for, we must conduct research and do what other countries are not doing. Africa cannot develop by imitating what Western countries are doing.”
He faulted the county government of Busia for failing to raise adequate revenue to support development despite Busia hosting two One Stop Border Posts in Busia town and Malaba.
“The tax we collect as a county is not the tax the county government has been declaring,” he said.
“There is no way the Malaba County Council would collect over Sh1 billion before devolution and then today with all the structures we have at county government, we only collect Sh170 million. This is unacceptable because tax rates have gone up and the number of vehicles crossing into Uganda has also risen.”