Residents of Malava constituency have accused a contractor of polluting their environment during murraming of a road in the area.
The populace claimed that dust from the murram had contributed to stunted growth of their maize and beans.
Some of those affected, like Josephine Chiteyi, charged that explosives used to break boulders for the construction of the road scattered smaller pieces hit houses belonging to those living within a radius of 200 metres.
The Malava Deputy County Commissioner, Patrick Meso, who heard the complaint, however, asked those complaining not to hype the issue.
The Environment and Water Chief Officer, Baraza Wangwe, said the Chinese contractor would soon water the area using tankers.
Wangwe explained that Environmental Impact Assessment had been undertaken by the contractor before he embarked on extracting the stones to be used on an alternative road while the Malava-Kaburengu highway was being tarmacked.
“The county government undertakes environmental assessment on every activity such as traffic, grazing and any social aspect,” said Wangwe who added that this was done in collaboration with the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA).
During an interview at his office, the Chief Officer said all measures were in place to mitigate damage being caused to biodiversity of any magnitude.
He urged the locals to continuously report any environmental activity which was suspect in the locality.
By Bantaleo Muhindi
