President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ban scrap metal has hit hard battery manufactures, with a multi-million recycling plant in Athi River expected to lay off thousands of people.
According to the Associated Battery Manufacturers (ABM), Chief Executive Officer Guy Jack the factory that recycles old batteries into pure lead and reusable polymers may close due to a shortage of raw materials.
“If the President’s decision forbidding the export of scrap metal is not communicated to local authorities, ABM, with a direct and indirect employee base of several thousand people, appears poised to close soon owing to a lack of raw material,” Jack said in a statement.
Unless the President’s decision against the export of scrap metal is conveyed to local authorities, the situation will worsen.
The coming shortfall, according to Jack, is due to enforcement agencies’ misinterpretation of a presidential edict prohibiting the export of scrap metals.
He further states the Athi River-based recycling business receives 2,000 tons of lead every month, which is sourced from used vehicle and solar batteries and processed back into pure lead.
“Unfortunately, since the presidential directive was issued, the plant has gotten next to nothing. “In the previous three years, ABM has invested well over Sh1 billion, all based on the availability of secure raw materials,” Jack remarked.
This comes after guardrails and traffic barriers at Nakuru’s newly built Njoro intersection were vandalized over the weekend.
The move by Kenyatta was in response to increased vandalism of public infrastructure and installation.
The Scrap Metal Act, which was passed in 2015, seeks to regulate the handling and export of scrap metal, the registration and licensing of all scrap metal dealers and the establishment of a Scrap Metal Council to streamline the management of the sector.
The President said the moratorium will stay in place until after the Government puts in place adequate measures to effectively police the sourcing, trade and export of scrap metal warning that those found culpable for vandalism of state infrastructure will be dealt with firmly.