Mandera governor issues a directive to reopen quarry fields in the county

Mandera county governor Ali Roba addressing the press outside his office. He issued a directive that  all quarry sites to be reopened.

MANDERA—Mandera Governor Ali Ibrahim Roba has issued a new directive to all quarry fields in Mandera County to be reopened from tomorrow despite government ban.

The governor argued that the closure is derailing the County’s economy and is having a negative  impact on the livelihood of many families who rely on the quarry fields as their main source of income.

“I hereby direct that as far as the county government is concerned, all people involved in quarry work to resume their activities immediately and it is responsibility of the national government team to provide security to public,” he said.

The governor termed the closure of the quarry filed as illegal, baseless and not serving its purpose.

“We have had terror incidents in the past and quarries were never closed, why take such a decision now when a high percentage of the population is relying the quarries?” he asked.

Before the move, several efforts by the quarry association and County government to convince the security team to reopen the quarry fields were unsuccessful.

The workers staged a peaceful demonstration last week in Mandera town following government decision to close all quarries fields.

The government announced the closure of all quarries sites in the county on the 4th of May, a week after four miners were killed by suspected Al-Shabaab militia at Shimbir Fatuma quarry in Mandera South.

The new move is however likely to create tension between the central government and the County government as the governor has warned to seek legal action if the government continues to infringe on human rights of the quarry workers .

The quarry industry provides more than 5,000 job opportunities in the county.