Government Projects Likely to Drag as Mining at Jaribuni Closed Down
Kilifi County Commissioner Joseph Biwott. (Photo/ Courtesy)
By Ronald Ngoba.
Email, thecoastnewspaper@mail.com
The national and county governments have been hit hard by banning of mining activities at Jaribuni quarries in Kauma Subcounty of Kilifi County.
Kilifi County Commissioner Joseph Biwott said the most affected projects included the construction of the Mombasa-Malindi highway, Mtwapa Bridge, the affordable housing and construction of Grade Nine classrooms in the region.
In a meeting with mining stakeholders and the secretary for mining at his office in Kilifi town on Friday, March 21, 2025, he added that his team had discovered that 90 percent of construction raw materials come from Kilifi.
In fact, even Tana River, Lamu, Mombasa and Kwale counties depend on the Jaribuni quarries for their now stalled projects following the ministerial ban causing construction materials’ costs to skyrocket.
Mining, Fisheries, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs cabinet secretary Hassan Ali Joho enforced the ban three weeks ago after residents barricaded roads leading to the quarry sites over air and noise pollution from the mining and transportation activities.
The prolonged effects of the problem, angered the residents who blocked and barricaded the two main roads leading to the quarry and mining sites which included the nine kilometre Dzitsoni-Jaribuni and Majajani-Jaribuni roads while demanding for government action.
The commissioner met the investors and other stakeholders including Malindi Economic Development Council, Kilifi County Diary and Pwani Professionals Forum who complained to him that the ban had threatened to cripple the sector’s economy.
The investors through their representative Maxwell Odoyo said that they were ready to tarmac the Ditsoni- Jaribuni road and each investor had been allocated one kilometre while the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) in whose docket the road falls would supervise the works which were expected to commence on March 24, 2025.
However, Kilifi Governor Gideon Mung’aro has insisted that the ban would remain in place until all issues raised by residents were addressed.
According to him his administration will also target other quarries in Tezo area to bring an end to pollution in the county which he said had brought untold suffering to residents including life threatening health conditions.
