Athi River Mining Ltd is putting in place measures to address dust polution.

The company has been heavily criticised by Kaloleni residents over dust pollution.

The company would modernise the crashing machine and change the crashing system to reduce the amount of dust emitted, executive director Suresh Kumar said.

“We shall also pave the roads within the plant because most of the dust that comes out is not actually emitted by the equipment but by the movement of trucks at the premises,” he said, adding that water would also be sprinkled on the roads to reduce dust.

The ARM boss said the problem was due to increased activity at the plant because the company was expanding and once this was completed  the problem of dust would be solved. General manager Pradeep Pathak said the company had installed dust arresters, adding that 40 per cent of the earnings were spent on environmental concerns.

Last week residents protested against the company, claiming that the dust from the plant was causing pollution in neighbouring areas. The plant  produces lime and cement.

The protesters claimed that they had suffered from respiratory diseases as a result of the dust and that some of their animals had died as a result.

On Wednesday, production manager Charles Bett, who is also in charge of environmental issues, said the management had met stakeholders and had engaged members of the community in a dialogue to find solutions to the problem. He promised to consider suggestions from the community.