Dust from quarry makes children ill in RAK

Residents of a tiny village in the Al Rahba area in Ras Al Khaimah are facing a lot of problems due to a quarry located close to their houses. The residents, who can see the quarry from their homes, complained of a lot of dust and said it was causing health problems for them and for children in particular. "Our children cough most of the time and we are forced to have respirators. Most of the people have some illness or the other," Ahmad Al Shehi, one of Al Rahba residents, told Gulf News. The small village of Al Rahba in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, wears a deserted look during the day as people are unable to leave their houses due to the amount of dust in the area. The road leading to the area is scenic but as soon as one approaches the area, one comes across rock quarries and numerous trucks carrying rocks and cement from the quarry. "People avoid going outside, not just to escape the searing heat but also to avoid inconvenience in breathing due to constant dust particles floating in the air," Al Shehi said The stone quarries, said the residents, also affects their homes. "Our village is a heritage village and we would like to maintain our heritage, but the quarries of Steve Rock destroy our heritage, they are digging in the valley and the mountains in the area," Al Shehi said Heritage site And, as if this is not enough, the constant noise of crushing stones does not let residents sleep peacefully. "It is difficult to even catch peaceful sleep after coming back from their work because of the machinery noise," said Al Shehi. The small village used to get visitors but excessive pollution has reduced that too, said the residents. "We have complained to the authorities more than 1,000 times but they do nothing. We want to solve this problem. It has been 30 years and we are still waiting. "We don't want to stop the development, but we don't want it to happen at the cost of our lives." The residents said they were used to living in the area where their ancestors lived and did not want to move to another place. They said they have complained to the authorities about the issue several times.