Migori County government has ordered Chinese investors who have mechanized sand harvesting along River Kuja to quit and vacate the place.
Chief Officer in charge of Environment and Disaster management Joshua Ngwala termed this illegal noting that it amounts to exploitation by the Chinese harvesters since they did not consult the county before delving into the business.
Ngwala said the involvement of machines in the operation would deprive the artisanal miners of their source of livelihood.
"We are investigating the foreign exploits and once we establish the forces behind these illegal exploits legal process will follow," he said.
The officer termed the establishment of the machine in Nyatike area as an abuse of the hospitality that the county government had always extended to foreign investors.
He said that there were reports that a local chief colluded with the Chinese nationals and promised to take legal action against local chiefs and leaders who are alleged to have been part of the shrewd deal.
The introduction of the machine has elicited mixed reactions with a section of locals accusing the Chinese company of exhausting the natural resource which they say is a source of livelihood to many families in the region.
Last week, the locals staged protests claiming the machines had been causing massive land degradation in the region where he also said that the locals demanded that the government intervene before they use other alternative plans to eject them.
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