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“The Unhappy Story of Fluorspar Wealth” The East African Standard - July 18, 2004 By Steve Mkawale A list of the beautiful sights in the Great Rift Valley is incomplete without the expansive Kerio Valley, that straddles the borders of Baringo, Marakwet and Keiyo districts. The valley, a byword for cattle rustling in recent Fluorspar is a rock containing fluorine, a purple product used in the glazing industry, making of fibre glass and in toothpaste manufacturing. The rock also contains some amount of silica. When mining was started deep down the valley in the 1970s, the community living around it saw it as a blessing. They saw in it as the means by which they would cross the valley of poverty. But more than two decades later, the area is for the residents more like a vale of tears. Reason: The wealth from the valley's huge deposits of fluorspar is slipping from their hands. Even worse, the mining has exposed them to life-threatening environmental hazards. The mining waste which is deposited in the nearby rivers is characterised by potentially toxic elements that are not only harmful to human beings but also to their animals. The precious mineral in the area has, according to the community - mainly the Keiyo - only benefited outsiders, leaving them wallowing in poverty. Recently, we made a tour of the mining area with the aim of establishing whether it has been of any benefit to residents. When we first traversed the lower side of river Kerio (the main source of water in the valley) where most people reside, we were met by the cries of people who feel cheated by "outsiders". The community accused the Government of not consulting it. Elderly David Sawe, who opposed mining in the area, says farmers were duped during the initial stages of the project and the process of allocating land to the mining company was not done procedurally. The local council, he says, did not give clearance but an attempt to block the acquisition of the land by Kenya Fluorspar Mining Company was thwarted by powerful people in the previous Government. After the community yielded to massive pressure, he said, compensation for the land was agreed between them and the company. On the issue of environmental degradation, residents have sometimes complained about the abrupt deaths of their livestock, which they believe are caused by emissions of waste from the factory into the rivers. During the mining process, waste laced with hydrochloric and sulphuric acids and other heavy metals is released into the river, posing a great risk to the lives of the people using the water. The wastes are released into River Kimwarer, a tributary of the main Kerio River, which is used by the locals for domestic use. River Kerio is clean upstream, but lower down it changes to brown due to the wastes. At the same time, trees around the river have dried up due to what the residents say are the effects of the toxic waste deposited in water. Many residents complain of chest complications which they attribute to air pollution. But the company downplays the effects of pollution caused by the mining activity, saying that the impact of what they produce is minimal and cannot cause any devastating effects. A supervisor with the company, who declined to be named, said allegations about environmental degradation were malicious. having them stop their activities. SOURCE: |
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