The illegal extraction of sand from a Kikoni trench has left residents in fear of accidents and stagnant water, as its depth and width increases.

Because of the sand extraction by unidentified people, the flow of water in the trench has been hindered thereby becoming a habitat for mosquitoes and also increasing the risk of accidents especially to young children. The volumes of sand extracted and the prices are unclear since people do the extraction during night.

Michael Kalanda, the chairman LC 1 of Kikoni said, “The extraction of sand from the trench is not only worrying to us, but also it is illegal and the Kikoni community should stand warned that any person caught extracting sand will be taken to courts of law.”

He promised that the local council is going to lay out various control measures to end this activity through the use of community spies, pinning warning notices along the trench and informing the police to carry out regular patrols.

Geoffrey Musaazi, a resident of Kikoni says that sand extracted from the trench is not expensive since it is near and less transport.

Solomon Ndagukunda, a builder and a resident of Kikoni told journalism@mak that the sand got from the trench is good when mixed with cement.

He added that most of the houses along the trench were built by the sand from the trench. Kampala Capital City Authority has been issuing warnings about sand extraction from the trench. This has not hindered the activity, instead for those extracting resorting to extraction during night.