Officers from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) on Tuesday ambushed and apprehended two individuals who were found operating quarries in Nairobi without the necessary compliance certificates.
The two were nabbed in Mihang’o Estate, Embakasi East, after failing to heed earlier orders from the authority to restore the state of the mines they were operating.
According to NEMA, the suspects will also face charges for failing to implement measures to control air pollution from their mining activities.
This had reportedly become a nuisance to residents in neighbouring estates, who appealed to the authority to rein in them.
"Two persons in charge of quarries and aggregate processing sites in Mihang’o were today apprehended for defiance in complying with the Authority's Restoration Orders served earlier," NEMA stated in a statement.
"The sites have failed to put in place measures to control air pollution and excessive vibrations from their operations that affected their neighbours."
NEMA has, in recent weeks, intensified its crackdown on unlawful activities within Nairobi in a bid to bring order to mining and construction activities.
In February this year, the authority arrested the owner of a building under construction and the contractor working at the site in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa area for failing to acquire the requisite approvals.
The two were arrested for disobeying a lawful order prohibiting them from working on the premises without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
"NEMA has today apprehended a contractor and proponent of a construction site along Timau Road, off Argwings Kodhek Road, for undertaking a project without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and disobeying a lawful order. The project is also out of character with the surroundings," NEMA stated in a statement.
The authority confirmed the arrests of the contractor and the proprietor of the residential property along Timau Road, off Argwings Kodhek Road.
The apprehension comes just two months after Mining Cabinet Secretary Hassan Joho issued a stern warning to unlawful miners in the country, stating that the government would take decisive action against them.
To curb unlawful mining, Joho said the ministry would do everything possible to protect Kenya's resources from exploitation by unlawful agents.
