Many people think that Soapstone is a soft stone which makes easy work on for carvings, but it is quite wrong when you find a narration from those who work at Tabaka soapstone centre, Kisii County to narrate the challenges they undergo.
After several years since 1885 when Tabaka soapstone was discovered, people working at the centre have been facing many challenges that need to be addressed, more so by the county government.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday, Osoro Ombeta, one of those men who toil and moil at Tabaka said that they face numerous challenges, one of them being lack of water and a ready market of selling their carvings.
They are now appealing to the county government under the leadership of governor James Ongwae to install piped water in Tabaka to bolster business which is the backbone of Kisii county.
“The county government has been promising us that there are measures in place to help us to develop but nothing has been done, we are appealing to them to make sure that they fulfill their promises in time so that we can develop our county,” said Ombeta.
In addition he added that the neighbouring community has not benefited from the product due to lack of measures that have been put in place by the county government to boost the activity.