For years, youth from Bomatara Village in Kisii county have been using the Kanunda Secondary School football pitch for training. However, everything changed in May 2019.
This is after a Chinese company working on the Ahero- Kisii road turned the field into a dumpsite. The youth were left stranded with nowhere to train. The ground was rendered unusable after the company dumped contaminated waste soil from the construction site.
As a result, Hivisasa highlighted the story calling on the relevant agencies to intervene. The story was covered by Hivisasa Kisii based writer Geoff Gichana. The writer learned about the case through one of the affected youth who sent him photos highlighting the situation.
The writer visited the pitch to corroborate the claims and to gather more information about the case. Before publishing the story, the writer contacted NEMA, the contractor, and the school management for a comment, but all the parties declined to address the matter.
After Hivisasa published the story, it was distributed on various social media platforms where it was picked up by area MCA John Amisi. The MCA wrote a letter to Governor James Ongwae demanding the immediate recovery of the field.
The MCA also demanded action to be taken against individuals who authorised the Chinese contractor to use the field as a dumping site.
Action has already been taken with the county government putting a stop to the dumping as investigations continue. At the moment, the youth have resumed training awaiting complete waste removal. The governor is expected to fully address the issue after he returns to the county from an official trip.
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