adminRichard Muponde Sunday News Correspondent
THE Environmental Management Agency (EMA) will soon introduce night raids on sand poachers who have invaded Hyde Park cemetery, stealing soil from graves and in some instances leaving coffins exposed.
The poachers sell the pit sand to residents from nearby suburbs for construction purposes.
The rampant desecration of graves by these unscrupulous sand dealers has made City Fathers and EMA officials have sleepless nights trying to find measures to curb the vice.
Wheelbarrow tracks could be observed each day from the cemetery to adjacent suburbs.
EMA has also arrested 18 people found dumping rubbish at undesignated points in the past week.
Most of those arrested were apprehended by environment monitors employed by EMA to patrol the streets and conduct raids during the night.
The night raids will now be extended to the cemetery as poachers steal pit sand during the night, in some instances digging to depths which reach as far as the coffins.
The Bulawayo City Council has responded by putting up warning signs at the cemetery, threatening to prosecute those who would be found stealing sand from graves.
BCC spokesperson Miss Bongiwe Ngwenya confirmed that council was attending to the problem and appealed to members of the public to report to the police any person found stealing soil from graves.
“As of now we haven’t received any fresh reports but we are urging members of the public to report to the police any person found stealing these soils,” said Miss Ngwenya.
Hyde Park cemetery is mostly targeted by these unscrupulous sand dealers because its soil is pit sand which is different from that of other city cemeteries such West Park, Athlone and Luveve. Pit sand is in high demand for construction purposes.
EMA provincial manager Mr Decent Ndlovu confirmed that illegal sand dealers had invaded the cemetery and said he discovered the problem recently during a tour of the city.
“What they are doing is not good. It’s uncultural and environmentally wrong. It’s a sad development. We have engaged other stakeholders like the police and the public at large to carry a blitz on these poachers like what we did with illegal dumping where we have arrested 18 people in a week using environmental monitors,” said Mr Ndlovu.
“We are going to conduct overnight raids on these poachers. The law will catch up with them. We are not just sitting and folding our hands. A message should be sent to sand poachers that definitely we are going to descend on them. It started gradually but it’s now becoming desperate.”
The problem is being worsened by the fact that Bulawayo has no legal sand pits, relying mostly on those in the peripheries of Umguza district.
Online Reporter