Namasale council bans sand mining: how does it affect families?

Amolatar | The Namasale town council in Amolatar district has closed the sand mining operation at the Oribcan site.

Speaking to tndNews on June 14, 2024, town clerk Acio Susan Eyuru stated that the closure was effective immediately. She stated that the decision was made due to the threats posed by rising water levels.

She stated that the water level is destroying the site, the road reserve, and the neighbouring homes. “We thought it was prudent to first halt the activity in order to avoid any potential disaster.”

Namasale benefits financially from sand mining, but the town clerk insists that lives and roads be prioritised.

Jolly Odongo serves as Namasale town council’s vice-LC3 chairperson. He told tndNews that they had developed a bylaw.

According to the bylaw, anyone who forcefully participates in the activity will face a 12-month jail sentence or a monetary fine.

George Lawrence Ogwang, physical planner for the town council, stated that they conducted a survey and discovered the mining site’s poor condition.

“It was out of control; people were removing sand indiscriminately, to the point where they were encroaching on the road reserve.”

Additionally, he said, the region with noticeable cracks was also impacted by the rising water level.

Ogwang stated that the holes and cracks being formed are not being filled, describing it as a “health hazard to the community.”

“For a long time, we have trained people on how to conduct healthy mining, but they never use the skills and knowledge.”

He has asked those who get their daily bread from the Oribcan mining site to look for another alternative or location while they first address the issue at hand.

Godfrey Ayena, LC3 chairperson of Namasale town council, stated that they stopped sand mining to study the water levels, which is threatening lives and plantations.

He added they will register the affected miners and ask the government for assistance because their gardens are being taken over by rising water levels.

Otok Francis, the LC1 chairperson of Oribcan, stated that he is not opposed to the town council’s decision to close the site.

However, he stated that the town council should be aware of a group of women and youth who used to live in the area due to sand mining activities.

He asked the town council officials to forge a path forward and tell the people what to do.

Sarah Ajibu, a sand miner, said she is unsure where life will take her and her family because it is the source of her daily income.

She also mentioned that she is caring for a one-month-old granddaughter whose mother is insane. She has no one to help her unless she goes sand mining.

Esther Okello, a community member, said she is now worried because the water has taken over her entire plantation.

She thanked the town council for saving her, saying that at any time, Oribcan could be flooded and no one would be able to live there.

According to Jeninifer Apio, she has been feeding her family and caring for her orphans through sand mining.

Dickens Okello claimed that his house was collapsing due to sand mining. “The miners dug underneath my house.”