adminYESTERDAY we ran yet another sad story of three young lives lost to drowning in a pit left open by sand poachers in Mayambara, Seke.
The oldest was 15 years and the youngest was nine.
The boys were fetching firewood in the company of their grandmother, who endured the agony of watching her grandchildren drowning in the rainwater filled pit.
Villagers tried their best to rescue the three souls in vain, as the pits are very deep.
They too were forced to helplessly watch life being sucked out of the three boys.
The trio is gone and all plans their families had made for Christmas are up in smoke.
Instead of celebrating on Sunday, they will still be in mourning.
Had proper regulation of sand extraction been in place, just maybe those boys would still be alive today.
But sadly, profits are now more prioritised than human life.
Land degradation is largely ignored by local authorities, and they only seem to wake up when tragedy strikes.
Environmental lobbying and advocacy groups seem to be tiring or simply losing the battle against unscrupulous officials.
It’s sad how the environment is being damaged willy-nilly while the responsible authorities continue to turn a blind eye.
The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) needs to bite environmental offenders, but currently, it doesn’t even seem to be baring its teeth.
In most towns, growth points and peri urban settlements sand and quarry poachers have become a menace.
Sand poachers have left a trail of destruction as they dig pit sand for construction purposes.
Local authorities know who these poachers are and where they operate, but they have not bothered to tackle them.
One would be forgiven for concluding that these poachers work in cohorts with corrupt officials in local authorities because where they used to operate under the cover of darkness, they now do it during daylight.
And they do so with impunity.
Their activities have created pools of death where kids drown every year when the open pits they leave behind fill up with rainwater.
Examples are the Epworth Quarry Dam, Southlea pool of death and several other pools dotted around most Harare suburbs.
As the demand for pit and river sand, and quarry grow due to the construction boom, authorities ought to balance it by enforcing strict regulations of where these can be sourced.
It can’t be any open space without due regard for the environment and residents’ safety.
Local authorities must have safe designated areas for sand and quarry extraction to prevent the unnecessary loss of lives we witness every year.
These areas must be fenced and only licensed extractors must be allowed to operate there.
Stiff penalties need to be imposed on offenders to help curb this malady.
Those in the construction sector should also play a significant role in preventing human tragedies and land degradation.
We have lost too many lives to continue business as usual.
Let’s remember that while construction is progressing well at some sites using pit sand illegally extracted from Mayambara, the blood of the three young souls is crying out for justice.
Online Reporter