Nairobi — Sand quarry owners in Magarini District must from now on sell their sand to the Magarini Sand Harvesters Cooperative Society.

This order bans hundreds of tycoons who have fleets of trucks from scooping sand directly from the quarries or buy it at low price, a fact attributed to the grinding poverty among the quarry owners.

The rich buy a 10-ton truck of sand at between Sh500 and Sh800 only to sell it at between Sh20,000 and Sh25,000 18km away in Malindi or Mombasa, 120km away.

Giving the orders after touring the clash-hit Mjanaheri quarry area on Wednesday, Magarini District Commissioner Mr Richard Karani gave the quarry owners a 14-day ultimatum to stop selling the sand to middle men or truck owners.

"All the sand must be sold to the Magarini Sand Harvesters Cooperative Society which is the only one mandated to do the job. It has the clear policy that regulates the price of sand in the region," he said.The DC also banned the transportation of sand at night saying it contributed to corruption by the suppliers who took advantage of the time to carry excess sand and avoid paying cess at check points.Quarry owners who defy this order risk having their quarries closed down. The Government would not even hesitate to ban sand harvesting altogether, said the DC. And those transporting sand between 6pm and 6 am will be arrested and charged in court, said the administrator.Mr Karani said sand harvesting had caused a lot of environmental degradation. More than 100,000 acres of land had been destroyed adding that "Sand harvesting is doing more harm than good to our environment".

The administrator said the business had not benefited local people but a few rich people who raked in billions annually while the quarry owners languished in abject poverty. More than 20,000 residents risk being displaced by the quarries any time, he said.

The Cooperative has set Sh 400 the price per ton, but some land owners have refused to sell at this price and instead resorted to willing seller- willing buyer system where they sell the product at throw away price.

"If we do not intervene, the environmental degradation will worsen and we may lose lives due to water- borne diseases that are likely to come up so soon," said Mr Karani.

A member of the Cooperative Mr Kahindi Ngombo said the sand benefited rich middle men who usually bought the product at Sh500 per 15-ton lorry and sold it at over Sh20,000.Mr Ngombo said over 200 lorries bought sand every day at that cheap price from the quarry owners.

"We have suffered for long from these suppliers whose main intention is to get sand almost free and make millions from it in Malindi, Mombasa and even outside the country. We are left with poverty and illiteracy due to high school drop-outs," he said.There was drama at the check-point at Sabaki Bridge earlier when some truck drivers by-passed it refusing to pay the Sh 200 cess to the council.

Residents off-loaded one of the trucks destined for Mombasa while another driver was forced to pay the cess after Administration Police officers blocked the road and residents roughed up the drivers.