By Dominic Allen
Mwanza Region, Tanzania: On November 14th, 2021 in the Geita region, two kindergarten children Ezekiel Joseph (9) and Joseph Martin (7) pupils of Mkolani primary in Kamuhanga died after a sand mining hole collapsed and were buried alive.
They were while they were playing when the sand mining wall fell on them.
Former Geita Regional Police Commander SACP Henry Mwaibambe confirmed that both children were playing in the hole when the pit of the sand fell on them. The children were saved alive and rushed to the nearby hospital of Nzela but died while receiving treatment.
“My call to parents is this time it is raining, many mining holes have been left for many days and some are not used, hence the soil has become soft. Let’s take care of our children not play in such holes that are easy to crumble.” urged Mwaibambe.
Similarly, at Nyigumba village in the Mwanza region, sand mining has also left trails of holes that have been endangering the lives of children. While many Children have been using the holes as their playgrounds during daytime school, the sand mining holes have turned out to be death traps for children in the region.
“ On April 21 my son was playing with other children here in the village, but he accidentally fell in a hole. It was a sand mining hole in our village as you can see there are some holes filled with water here, my son got injured and failed to attend school for almost a week,” Madeva Ismail attested.
Madeva requested the government to control sand mining in residential areas in order to save the lives of the children. Ismail who is the only son of Madeva almost lost his life that day. Rajabu Mdunga, who is one of the farmers in Nyigumba village said that he witnessed the incident when he was farming that day.
“l remember that day, it was morning. I was just passing through my neighbors. I saw the incident of my neighbor’s son, falling in the hole when they were playing. I rushed to him to help him and administered first aid.” said Rajabu Mdunga.
Rajabu added that local government leaders were working closely with the community whereby he advised the local government leaders to solve the problem which has been endangering the life of their children.
Kulwa Julius who also lives in Nyigumba agreed that children’s lives were at risk due to the ponds.
“These holes are life-threatening because you can find a child leaving home and children love to swim, if the water is full the child can swim and drown,” warned Julius.
Children playing in one of the holes left by sand miners in Nyigumba village/Domonic Allen
In many places around Lake Victoria where sand mining is done, there are many abandoned holes left behind by sand miners that have become children’s playgrounds.
Sand mining is among the activities that provide employment to youth in many places in Tanzania. The activity mostly takes place around rivers, lakes, and even the oceans.
Sand miner’s source of livelihood
Juma Ramadhani, who lives in Nyakagwe in the Buhongwa ward, for years has been buying sand for making house bricks and he depends on it as a source of his income. He points out that quality differs forcing him to order the sand from different areas.
“Those who are mining have been given permission by the government, so when I buy sand for making house bricks, I believe it is a legit business.” Added Juma.
Juma added that he had been visiting the places where sand is mine including around Lake Victoria. Juma said that when he was aware of the environmental impacts of sand mining.
Juma noted that the government of Tanzania through its responsible institutions should regulate these activities.
“These activities must be regulated, I think there are bodies in the government that are responsible to ensure that environmental damages that are caused by sand mining are mitigated,” said Juma.
Other mines also noted with concern about cases of harassing women had been reported at the sand mining sites.
Yohani Msiani a villager in Isamilo owns one of the areas where sand is mined. In this area, the impact of sand mining is not yet to be seen as it is a new mine.
“There are limitations on depths when mining, so as the owner I will not allow it to exceed the depth because there are fines, not only fines also it might endanger our lives and the lives of other people” responded Yohani.
“We ask that these people who come to dig the sand should cover it completely and even those who bought the quarries should also cover
A report by the United Nations Environmental Program ( UNEP) notes how people who live around Lake Victoria are involved in livelihood activities such as fishing, and sand mining among others.
Also, reports indicate that over 8 million tonnes of sand were mined in Tanzania. However, huge impacts have been witnessed both social and environmental impacts due to sand mining activities around Lake Victoria.
Impact on the Environment
Sand mining activities have also led to Soil erosion in the affected areas. Experts have warned that some vegetation has disappeared while floods are likely to occur.
Juvenali Matajiri an environmental expert from Fishers Union Organization (FUO), said sand mining can cause soil erosion, especially during the rainy season leading to land degradation. Mtajajiri said that sand mining and other activities in some of the islands in Lake Victoria have caused some of the islands to decrease in size. “For example, Kasharazi island, the area size of Kasharazi island has decreased as the sand miners have been mining sand, cutting down trees, and removing the natural vegetation of the areas. Now some of the islands have decreased in size compared to 10 years ago.”
“Back in the day there were different species of tortoises, frogs, butterflies, and birds who lived in those areas where sand mining is taking place, but now such species have disappeared due to the cutting down of the trees and other activities that destroyed their habitat.”
Mtajiri emphasized that the government should take action against illegal sand miners, who illegally mine sand as criminals. Also, Fanuel Kasesene, an environmental officer at Mwanza city council, said one needs to have a permit before doing sand mining activities.
One of the sand trucks carrying sand from Bukumbi village. Sand miners say many are coming from different places for sand/ Dominic Allen.
According to the Environmental Act of 2004, those who cause environmental damage to the environment might be fined based on the level of damage done.
Lufunda Joel, environmental officer of Misungwi district said they have prohibited sand mining in some villages such as Mwasonge and other places. “There villages for example Mwasonge we have prohibited sand mining over there because they were endangering people’s lives,” said Lufunda.
“When digging, the hole should not exceed three feet, and we are assessing if is there the possibility of the hole refilling itself later. So when we are satisfied with that, then we give permission to the sand miners.”
Lifunda confirmed how villages like Mwasonge and Nyigumba, despite sand mining being prohibited sand miners, have been digging beyond three feet as required. “It is true that there is illegal sand mining as some miner digs during night times,” said Lufunda.
Boniface Chacha who is acting manager at National Environment Management Council (NEMC) in Lake zone areas, said they have been providing education to the residents in Mwanza.
“Our position is in providing education on the care and conservation of the environment in general. Therefore, when we get a chance to use the media like this, it becomes an opportunity for us to use it to convey a message to the people.”
Boniface Chacha agreed that there are sand miners who violate the conditions of permits in mining, hence leading to negative both environmental and social impacts on the areas where mining activities are taking place.
“As NEMC, our advice to miners is to comply with the conditions of permits in mining so as not to cause environmental damage or inconvenience to other users, as the mining takes place in water sources such as rivers and lakes.” Said Chacha.
Lucas Lugigo who is acting Chairman of Nyigumba village admitted that there is a challenge in regulating the activities since it is difficult to limit the digging depth by sand miners.
“Until now, we have sat with the local and village leaders, although there are challenges because there are people who buy those fields. Now, it is difficult to limit the digging depth to the customers who bought there. But we also have the plan to talk to the owners of those areas to stop those activities of sand mining.” affirmed Lugigo.
“My advice is that they stop the sand mining activities because of its impacts on the nearby villages. The whole area is covered with sand pits and children have no place to pass even cattle,” lamented Lugigo.
