Death traps: Why you could pay dearly for abandoned excavation

Residents of Mukinyai Village by the sides of a deep pool at a quarry where three children aged 15 and below from one family drowned in on December 12, 2020. [Photo: Kennedy Gachuhi, Standard]

Human beings blast their way into the earth’s crust to look for minerals with an aim of making a fortune and living comfortable lives.

But sometimes, the earth is not too friendly to those who seek its precious resources. Instances of mines collapsing and burying treasure hunters inside them are not rare.

Other times, the miners, after hitting the jackpot, leave gaping holes that become death-traps, where people plunge to their deaths - sometimes willingly, sometimes accidentally.

Tangus Philemon of Chepkositonik, Bomet County, counts himself lucky to have survived after the sand quarry he and two others were working in suddenly caved in last December.

He stared at death when the walls of the pit they were digging caved in on them and he had to endure a two-hour wait for help he was not sure was coming. 

“I am lucky to be alive. I was shielded by a stone from falling rubble when the walls of the quarry caved in,” the 40-year-old said. One of his colleagues died.

More disturbing is when quarry workers leave a pit open and move to the next destination, leaving people at the mercy of earth that seems eager to swallow them.

Companies go in search of stones, sand and other minerals and when their mission is over, they do not bother to rehabilitate the land.

“It is illegal,” says National Construction Authority General Manager Maurice Akech. “There are guidelines that are given before one embarks on digging a quarry.

“There is a regulatory framework, and the applicant has to make proposals of what they intend to do with the land after the mining is done.”

When the quarries are left open, people, especially children, have slipped and tumbled to sudden deaths. Criminals have also used quarries, which often fill up with water, to dump bodies.

The dangers of open pits are countless.

Eng Akech last year sent a notice to the developers of Pinnacle Towers, which was supposed to be the tallest building in Africa at 320 metres, to fill up the site that had been excavated and left open for some time.

The construction stalled, leaving neighbours of the site complaining that houses near the unfilled excavation had developed cracks.

The cracks develop due to lateral shifting of the soil.

“The authority hereby orders the developer, Jabavu Village Ltd of the construction site on Plot LR No 31/219 in Upper Hill, Nairobi County, to immediately undertake remedial actions to restore the site and that of the neighbouring properties within 14 days of the date of this notice,” wrote Akech.

“Jabavu Village is further notified that in event of failure to comply with this order within the stipulated timeline, the authority will recommend prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.” 

Aketch says there is always an environmental assessment prior to the excavation, with mitigation and reclamation measures well discussed and agreed on.

“The problem we have is in the implementation of these regulations. We have every regulation well documented,” says the GM.

“Reinstatement of such areas could see sites turned into dams or filled up. That is already determined by the time of licensing.”

A committee is now developing safety guidelines which will determine, among other things, how to set timelines for the filling up of deep excavations in light of a persistent problem of people digging up foundations and taking aeons to start construction, or miners leaving quarries open.

The Mining Act of 2016 requires the miner to restore the land.

“The holder of a permit or licence under this Act shall use the land in accordance with the terms of the permit or licence and shall ensure the sustainable use of land through restoration of abandoned mines and quarries,” it reads.

“(The owner shall also ensure) that the seepage of toxic waste into streams, rivers, lakes and wetlands is avoided and that disposal of any toxic waste is done in the approved areas only.

Blasting and all works that cause massive vibration should also be properly carried out and muffled to keep such vibrations and blasts to “reasonable and permissible levels” in conformity with the Environmental Management and Coordination Act.”

“Upon completion of prospecting or mining, the land in question shall be restored to its original status or to an acceptable and reasonable condition as close as possible to its original state,” the law says.

Pits and trenches dug by road contractors and left unfilled for months have also become death traps in the recent past.

By September last year, seven people, four of them pupils, drowned in open pits that had filled up with water during rainy seasons in North Rift.

North Rift National Environment Management Authority (Nema) official Anne Owino said it was the responsibility of road contractors to rehabilitate the pits soon after excavation.

She said Nema had written several letters to contractors to ensure guidelines on the rehabilitation of pits were adhered to.

“We have reined in several contractors. Some of them make agreements with farmers without involving us. We have also held several meetings with contractors and they know what to do,” she said.

Nema’s Integrated National Land Use Guidelines of 2011 acknowledged the dangers associated with mining, outlining the guidelines that should be taken during and after excavation.

“The mining method in Kenya is mainly open cast due to the nature and occurrence of the minerals,” the guidelines note.

“Environmental impacts of quarrying and mining activities include disturbances of flora and fauna, visual squalor, noise pollution, dust and vibrations causing negative human health impacts and destruction of property.”

In addition, mining operations generally affect the hydrological functions and compete with ecologically protected zones such as national reserves, game parks and gazetted forests, the guidelines say.

Nema has listed occupational, public safety and health, environmental, and socio-economic guidelines to control quarrying.

It also provides that the landowner should establish quarry pit rehabilitation and after-use plan to be approved by the District Environment Committee as prescribed in the audit check.

“The after-use plan should identify suitable alternative land uses for the disused pits such as land restoration for agriculture, recreation, forestry and apiary (bee keeping), exploitation for aquaculture, water reservoir and if suitable exploitation for sanitary land filling.”

Phasing or “blocking” of the quarry site for progressive quarrying operations and therefore progressive restoration and reclamation should be practiced, Nema says.

“Quarries shall be restored within 12 months of depletion of the quarry and the District Environment Committee or an appointed agent shall issue a clearance letter confirming satisfaction with the restoration efforts,” the authority says.

The regulations are there alright. Whether they will be followed is a different debate altogether.