Magarini residents appeal for intervention as KEMU Salt faces closure over land dispute
A section of residents of Magarini Sub-County in Kilifi County has made a passionate appeal to leaders to intervene and ensure salt firms facing disputes are allowed to continue operating to prevent job losses.
The residents said many of them largely depend on the salt mining companies for jobs, and if one of them is closed down, it would greatly affect livelihoods.
You might also like
The Magarini salt belt covers a wide area, with over six salt firms operating, but reports indicate that one of the firms, KEMU Salt, has been having land disputes and faces closure.
Kadzo Karisa, a resident of Kurawa Kanagoni, said KEMU Salt should not be closed because hundreds of locals would lose jobs and suffer.
“We urge the government to protect salt firms from closure since we are staring at job losses because of several land disputes. Officials should look into ways of resolving the disputes instead of halting operations,” she said.
Karisa said she normally does manual jobs at the salt firm and also runs a café that serves truck drivers who transport salt from the company.
Speaking in Kanagoni, she said there have been threats that the salt firm would be shut down, and called on relevant authorities and leaders to resolve the issues amicably to ensure locals do not lose jobs.
Furaha Ngumbao, a local leader from Magarini, said salt firms play a key role in job creation and support the local economy, adding that shutting down one of them could lead to massive job losses.
“There are leaders who are inciters and they do so for their selfish interests. They don’t want the firms to compensate locals so that they can continue blackmailing them,” he said.
Ngumbao said that if there were any disputes between investors and locals, they should be resolved so that investors can continue operating.
“The national and county governments should be at the forefront of protecting both locals and investors, and they can only do that through proper land registration and demarcation so that those affected by the expansion of salt firms into their land can be compensated,” he said.
