Sand harvesters in Rhonda and Barut quarries have been given one week to leave the quarries or face legal action.
The directive came from county commissioner Joshua Nkanatha who noted that the harvesters had decided to flout security advises to vacate the mines owing to increased rains in the county which could easily trigger landslides.
“I have noted that despite prior warnings to the miners by relevant authorities they have consistently ignored the same and know they have strictly one week to abandon the mines or we will be forced to take legal action against them," he said.
Nkanatha who was speaking on Friday also stated that several residents living around the mines had constantly complained over fears of landslides if the mining activity was not put to a halt at least tentatively until the rains ebb.
However in a swift rejoinder, some of the miners dismissed the commissioner's directive as baseless adding that since the rains began no serious incident had been reported within the mines or the surrounding homes.
One of the minors who refused to be named for fear of reprisals said that he would not vacate the quarry since that was his sole source of income and challenged the commissioner to get him an alternative activity.
"Where do they expect us to go to now that they are threatening to arrest us? I can’t vacate this place," he protested.