Relief in sight for ferry commuters as county govt intervenes
What you need to know:
- Governor Hassan Joho announced after a meeting with KFS boss Musa Hassan Musa on Tuesday that his government had decided to intervene following persistent problems at the channel.
- The Mtongwe Channel collapsed in the 1990s following Kenya’s worst marine accident in which more than 150 people were killed.
- Queues extending several kilometres on both the island and mainland are a common daily sight as crowds of commuters throng the ramps.
Commuters on the Likoni Channel could soon enjoy better services after the Mombasa County Government and Kenya Ferry Services joined hands to end the chaos.
Governor Hassan Joho announced after a meeting with KFS boss Musa Hassan Musa on Tuesday that his government had decided to intervene following persistent problems at the channel.
Mr Joho said the county government and KFS had formed a joint taskforce to tackle the problems.
He said the county would look into the possibility of acquiring another vessel to service the Mtongwe Channel and decongest the Likoni Channel.
The Mtongwe Channel collapsed in the 1990s following Kenya’s worst marine accident in which more than 150 people were killed.
“We have agreed to form a joint taskforce to look into the challenges being faced by KFS and come up with a solution on how the county can assist in servicing and maintaining the existing ferries and the possibility of purchasing a ferry for the Mtongwe Channel,” the governor said.
Mr Musa said the appalling service was mainly a result of the aged vessels.
The ferry service boss said more than 300,000 commuters cross the channel every day while vehicle traffic was also on the increase, with more than 30,000 using the channel daily.
“The huge amount of traffic has resulted in the ferries being overworked, hence the current problems,” said Mr Musa. “We have serious problems in managing the ferries as most of them are old and require regular servicing, thus their maintenance has proved to be quite costly,” he added.
The channel is experiencing an unprecedented crisis due to frequent breakdowns of most of the ferries.
Queues extending several kilometres on both the island and mainland are a common daily sight as crowds of commuters throng the ramps.
Likoni police boss Willy Simba yesterday described the constant traffic jams as “excessive, unacceptable and unusual”.
He said a solution needed to be found immediately as the situation was getting out of hand.
