Mostly aged between 7 and 16, some of them are seen at quarry sites still dressed in their school uniforms engaged in different activities at the quarries.
Local residents say that most of the children have abandoned school while they (children) say they only go to quarries after attending school.
When journalists asked them why they abandon school for mine work , one of them aged 7 said it is because of hunger that they have chosen to look for odd jobs to get money they can use to buy food. They say they do not find enough to eat at home.
“What do you do when you come home back from school and find that there is nothing to eat?” one of the children IGIHE talked to was wondering.
Another said; “I study in P3. I went to school in the morning and when I returned, I found no food at home. So, I decided to come here to look for money,” he said.
However, because they are not able to extract minerals, the children choose to filter the remains.
They all say that none of them goes back without at least Rwf2000 at the end of the day.
The parents say that most of the children that work in quarries are those who became disobedient to their parents.
They also say that the children attend the quarries in the evenings, get drunk and are a threat to their security.
“We have a problem of small children who have abandoned school for mining but what is even so saddening is that they waste the money they earn by buying doughnuts and drugs after which in the evening, they disturb security,” one resident said.
Remera Sector Executive Secretary Marcelline Mukamana told IGIHE that authorities are aware of this challenge and they are looking for a sustainable solution.
“We know that problem but we thought that only adults work in quarries. They are doing it illegally. We usually send DASSO local security guards to prohibit and warn residents from that exercise because they don’t have the right to do it,” she said.
She further says that the quarries were previously exploited by ROKA Rwanda– the leading ore mining, processing and exporting company in the country, but their contract expired and there has not been another company to take over yet. This is why local residents started trespassing on the quarries, she explained.
However, she said that in collaboration with the District, there are two companies that have submitted bids for the quarry and may start exploiting it soon.
As for children that abandon school for Mining, Mukamana said they often work in quarries when they are back from school but the authority is going to do its best to solve the problem in collaboration with parents.
Rwandan law stipulates that any child below 17 years of age is prohibited from working in quarries.
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