Vihiga County government plans to introduce hefty levies in the lucrative mining, quarrying and sand harvesting sector as it seeks to meet the financing gap of Sh700 million in the 2022/23 Sh5.8 billion budget.
The levies in the natural resources sector will be imposed in form of penalties and are contained in the Bill that is currently undergoing public scrutiny.
The proposal is coming a week after Governor Wilber Ottichilo lamented over unregulated quarrying and sand harvesting in the devolved unit.
Vihiga County government plans to introduce hefty levies in the lucrative mining, quarrying and sand harvesting sector as it seeks to meet the financing gap of Sh700 million in the 2022/23 Sh5.8 billion budget.
The proposal contained in the proposed Vihiga County Finance Bill, 2022 is coming at a time the devolved unit has raised its revenue generation target to Sh199.1 million.
The levies in the natural resources sector will be imposed in form of penalties and are contained in the Bill that is currently undergoing public scrutiny.
The proposal is coming a week after Governor Wilber Ottichilo lamented over unregulated quarrying and sand harvesting in the devolved unit.
According to the Bill, failure by an individual or firm to restore mined quarry sites to environmentally accepted conditions will attract a penalty of Sh5,000 per cubic metre. Sh100,000 will be imposed on an individual or firm that fails to secure a quarry site.
Miners will also pay a Sh30,000 penalty should they fail to mitigate environmental issues in the quarrying areas.
Last week, Governor Ottichilo said there is a need for legislation to check the unregulated sand harvesting, quarrying and transportation in the county to address the adverse effects caused to the environment by the mining activities.
The county boss said quarrying activities in the devolved unit had caused massive land degradation in riparian areas amid the rising effects of climate change.
The devolved unit is also seeking to introduce natural resource permits to enable it keep a register of individuals and firms allowed to undertake legalised quarrying and mining within its borders.
If the proposed Finance Bill is approved by the county assembly, miners will be required to pay an annual fee of Sh50,000 for exploration of natural resources.
Small mining or natural resources extraction operations with up to ten employees will pay Sh12,500 per annum while medium mining or natural resources extraction operations with between 11 and 50 employees will pay Sh30,000 to the county government every year.
Firms with over 50 employees will be charged a fee of Sh100,000 every year and an additional Sh20,000 for business permit for mining and transporting of sand, ballast, marram and hard core.
Transportation of sand, ballast, marram and hard core of up to seven tons will attract charges of between Sh200 and Sh400 per trip.
Business Daily has established the plan to outlaw mining activities during night hours by prohibiting harvesting, extraction or scooping of sand between 6 pm and 6 am.
Transportation of sand between 8 pm and 6 am will also be outlawed as the county government seeks to guide the transportation of sand through designated roads to be used by transporters within the devolved unit.
In the 2022/23 financial year, the county will receive a total of Sh5.1 billion as its equitable share to run a Sh5.8 billion budget, hence the push to expand the revenue generation bracket to net in the handling of natural resources.
Further, the 2022/23 budget shows the county will also seek grants and loans totaling to Sh417.3 million as part of the wider push to address the glaring deficit.
