Sand poaching, a serious threat to the environment
FOUR middle-aged men took turns to shovel pit sand into a blue heavy-duty truck that had no registration number plates and headlights and whose tyres have evidently seen better travelling days.
In between their loading turns, the four exchange what looks like a stub of cigarette, only that it is rolled in a khaki paper before stuffing it back into a match box. The truck that looks more of a ramshackle is clearly not roadworthy, something that explains why it only travels after dusk — to evade police roadblocks.
It is parked close to Gwayi River along Solusi road and the team does its work so much alert to their environs for it revolves around illegalities.
One of them stops for a while to wipe off sweat with the back of his hand. Though his face showed signs of dizziness, he was not at a point to call it quits. After having a few solid hours of labouring, the driver of the dilapidated lorry and his friends drive off while wearing smiles as if they have won a lotto jackpot, leaving behind soccer field-sized pits with varying depths.
Their mission is to deliver the poached sand to potential buyers in the new stands of Emganwini and other surrounding suburbs without being hooked by the long arm of the law. And this marks the beginning of a busy day for brick moulders, brick layers and durawall casters as they have to scramble for the mined sand just soon after receiving frequent deliveries from the sand poachers.
When the Sunday News crew talked to some poachers their justification for the illegality was that they could not get employment and sand poaching has therefore became their employ.
They said they do sand poaching in Pumula South, Cowdray Park, Gwayi, Magwegwe North, Pumula South, Methodist Mazwi, Luveve, Gwabalanda, Khami, Rangemore and St Peter’s Village.
The periphery of many council suburbs and other areas prohibited have become a hive of activity with sand poachers having pounced on them, digging pits in search of pit and river sand, in the process causing extensive damage to the environment.
Defying the dictates of culture on cemeteries, the sand poachers had pounced on Hyde Park cemetery and a running battle ensued with council authorities and they stopped the poaching activities.
“I rely heavily on pit sand and river sand to mould bricks which are on demand. A lot of people rush to buy my bricks. Getting sand through proper and legal channels is quite expensive so we use the sand poachers. We get deliveries from them very often,” said one brick moulder from Cowdray Park.
Mr Zenzo Mpala a brick moulder who is also into precast wall making said, “On a busy week, I am forced to order three to four lorry-loads of sand. The expansion of the city’s residential areas in Emganwini, Cowdray Park and Pumula South has forced illegal sand poachers to mine more than nature can provide,” said Mr Mpala.
Evidence is mounting that high levels of urbanisation could possibly undermine the sustainable environment strategies and usage due to excessive harvesting of soil leaving gullies that will never be reclaimed and threatening vegetation.
Areas in Bulawayo ravaged by illegal sand poachers have become disillusioned as drowning cases have also been on the increase, a result of pits which are left bare by the poachers.
Pit sand and river sand are commonly used for building purposes and overwhelming demand has encouraged sand poaching at the expense of the environment.
The question on whether it is worth it to destroy the environment and human life over a lorry-load of sand which fetches between $50 and $80 depending on the quality of the load remains unanswered although the truth is that people tend to look at the short term benefits and forget the future — the long term effects of their actions.
“If you consider environmental issues as more important than fending for your family, then you have to think again. I pocket a little amount that is not even enough to send my children to school through selling sand to construction companies and other individuals,” said Hlanganani Ncube.
He confirmed that to him environment issues were secondary saying the primary issue was to make sure there was food on the table for his family.
“They are always drunk and very violent. They drive recklessly and can harm or kill you if you approach them when they are poaching sand. We know them but we cannot report them to the police because we fear for our lives,” said a Pumula North resident.
According to a survey conducted, people have been drowning in water bodies created by sand poaching.
Police and Environmental Management Agency (Ema) officers have always fought running battles with the sand poachers, but the sand poachers pay $20 fines and go back to their illegal acts.
“The police always pounce on us in an effort to try and discourage us from sand poaching. We pay $20 fines and immediately after paying the fines we go back in search for more sand because we have families to support. We are unemployed and sand poaching provides us with a source of livelihood, otherwise if we do not do this, we may end up resorting to robbing people of their belongings,” said one of the poachers.
According to the poachers it is clear that $20 is not much to them considering the amounts of money they make from the illicit activity.
The brick traders sell 1 000 bricks for as little as $40 while licenced companies, some of which are operating in the neighborhood, sell the same quantity for more than $160. These pricing discrepancies obviously breathe life into the environmentally unfriendly practice which has over the years proved difficult to eradicate.
Pit sand and river sand are critical materials in the construction industry and have become a fast selling commodity in light of the heightened construction activity in the city. Sand poachers have launched relentless and sustained attacks on the environment, destroying thousands of acres of land, digging pit and river sand.
Unlike in Harare where sand poaching is done in broad day light, Bulawayo’s sand poachers carry out their activities during witching hours to evade authorities. Battles often ensue between the sand thieves and the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) and the Bulawayo City Council rangers, battles that in some instances have turned bloody.
Mr Decent Ndlovu, Ema Bulawayo manager has always encouraged people to adhere to the regulations governing the sustainable utilisation of the environment urging those willing to extract sand to register with the local authority and conduct their activities in designated areas.
Statutory Instrument 7 of 2007 of the Environment Impact Assessments and Ecosystems Protection Regulations as amended by Statutory Instrument 4 of 2011 requires anyone who engages in sand abstraction for commercial purposes to be in possession of a licence.
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said it was difficult to eradicate sand poaching emphasizing on the dangers that it was causing to the environment.
“It is difficult to reclaim the places where poaching is conducted, only routine patrols are being conducted on the affected sites. Also joint patrols and awareness campaigns with Zimbabwe Republic Police, Environmental Management Agency and the Forestry Commission are being conducted at certain intervals,” she said.
She called on the public to report anyone found poaching to council or to the police. “Residents in the affected areas should not to confront poachers but report to the relevant authorities. They are also advised on the dangers of pit holes in their areas as these contribute to deaths especially during the rainy season,” she added.