By Caroline Boyani
The continuous heavy rainfall witnessed in the past few weeks have caused havoc in various places in the country and the neighbouring country of Tanzania. Places like Bamburi and Kisauni in Mombasa were most affected with water carrying household items and rendering roads impassable. This is an indication that despite years of experiencing such catastrophes, as a country we are unprepared to effectively deal with natural disasters. This can also be attributed to lack of planning and some leaders sleeping on their jobs of unclogging drainages.
Isaiah, who works at a radio station in Mwembe Tayari expressed his frustration of not getting to work for three days. ” I am lucky enough that water did not get into my house but I’m stuck and cannot get to work, it’s frustrating” he described. ” And even if I manage to go to work it will be hard to go into the field to collect news” he added.
Those that conduct businesses along roads were affected too. Jane who sells fruits at Kongowea market in Mombasa expressed her concerns over the loss she incurred and called to the county government to renovate the market to standards that enable business at all times in all seasons. ” My fruits and vegetables have gone bad as the market is inaccessible and some of my fellow business people have lost their merchandise as it was carried away by the flowing streams that resulted from the heavy rains” she elaborated.
Drainage system has been a common issue every time it rains and residents were hopeful that the new county leadership regime would have tackled that. It’s understandable that the previous regime might have left the situation in the pits and the new government is doing their best but the residents of Mombasa need to see more actions to be sure that they are heading in the right direction. Money set for water and drainage system should be prioritized in effectively ensuring safety of residents at such times.
The country government can come up with system that allows the water to drain into a central system where the waste is separated from the water and disposed appropriately. Alternatively, despite the high cost of living they can take great measures to ensure no one builds a house at a risky area or build a resource centre where people can be evacuated to when the need arises.
