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Disband scrap metal council, dealers tell state
Police officers inspect scrap metal impounded from a smelting firm in Changamwe, Mombasa. Scrap metal dealers are represented in the Scrap Metal Council which regulates the trade.
Dealers of scrap metal have called on the government to disband the Scrap Metal Council saying it is the weakest link in the fight against the increase of smuggling of materials to neighbouring countries.
The dealers now want Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria to disband the council, accusing it of being toothless in curbing the illegal export of scrap metals, especially batteries.
Battery Manufacturers Association spokesman Peter Wafula called on Mr Kuria to pick on new members who understand how the industry operates to save dealers who are almost being driven out of business.
“The council is toothless, it cannot bite, people are smuggling scrap metals as if there is no law. The council should move in and cancel licenses of those involved in the vice,” Mr said
“The Council should have by now cancelled licenses of traders whose trucks were intercepted and charged in court,” Mr Wafula added.
Mr Wafula urged the Kenyan authorities to cooperate with their Tanzanian counterparts to curb the illegal trade of scrap batteries so that business locally can thrive.
“The situation is getting serious and if not controlled, local manufacturers will have to close or scale down operations due to lack of raw materials,” Mr Wafula said.
This comes as officials from the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Saturday intercepted a truck belonging to the same operator who has had three of his trucks intercepted and drivers charged for ferrying scrap batteries to Tanzania.
The officials operating at the Taveta border point are also calling on security personnel to assist in curbing the vice by arresting those transporting illegal materials through the area.
“It had become a very serious problem here, unscrupulous traders operate with impunity and export the prohibited materials like there is no law in Kenya,” lamented Peter Kiilu the officer in charge of the Taveta station.
Reports indicate that scrap metal in Tanzania is in high demand, a move that is now forcing local dealers to use illegal means to export the materials.
Under the law export of scrap metal is prohibited but unscrupulous traders have been capitalising on the porous Kenya-Tanzania and Uganda borders to smuggle the materials.
In the last two months, KRA officials have intercepted trucks ferrying scrap batteries to Tanzania but this has not stopped the traders from smuggling the scrap materials since they are licensed to operate.
In May last year, the government issued strict regulations that require licensed scrap metal dealers to transport their cargo between 6.30 am and 6.30 pm.
With the new regulations in place, the government lifted a January 20, 2022 ban that former President Uhuru Kenyatta imposed a ban on scrap metal business following a surge in vandalism of critical national assets including power transformers.
The new rules impose a Sh10 million fine or a three-year jail term to anyone found operating without a license.
Repeat offenders are liable to a fine not exceeding Sh20 million or imprisonment for not more than five years. The export of scrap metal under the new rules remains restricted.
The multi-agency team comprises officers from the National Environment Management Authority and the Kenyan Revenue Authority among others.
