Lawmakers want more ferries bought

A parliamentary committee has recommended the purchase of four new ferries to address the transport crisis at the Likoni channel.

Members of the Transport committee said two additional ferries that the government plans to buy would be inadequate.

Mr Maina Kamanda, the committee’s chairman, said the five old ferries operating on the channel were a potential disaster due to their state.

“The government should now buy four new ferries in order to avert a disaster on the Likoni crossing,” he said.

Although the government had budgeted Sh1.3 billion for the purchase of two new ferries, they would not be able to tackle the transport crisis in the South Coast, according to the MP.

The committee had recommended to the government to set aside Sh700 million for downpayment for four new ferries, he said.

The amount should be included in the 2015/2016 Budget to cover the cost of two ferries and the payment for the remaining two should be set aside in the 2016/2017 financial year, he said.

He spoke to the Nation on the sidelines of the committee’s meeting at Travellers Beach Hotel in Mombasa on Friday.

Mombasa Woman Representative Mishi Mboko, a member of the committee, said the residents of Mombasa and Kwale had suffered for long due to frequent ferry breakdowns.

Travellers often miss flights while workers report to work late owing to delays at the crossing channel, she said.

“The time has come for the government to listen to the plight of hundreds of thousands of commuters who cross the Likoni channel.”

Ganze MP Peter Shehe, another member, said tourism had been crippled in Diani partly because of the poor state of the ferries.