Tame looming public health disaster in Mombasa

A water vendor supplies drinking water along Mombasa's Mikindani Road on February 18, 2014. The town has faced water shortage from time to time. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Free to use public toilets within Mombasa town are non-existent giving rise to the challenge of open defecation.
  • The recent intervention by the county and various agencies that reined in on fake and contaminated bottled water is laudable.
  • In Changamwe, most poor people use water sold cheaply in either refilled bottles or polythene papers.
  • That Mombasa has no functional dumpsite.

In my capacity as chairperson of the Kenya Consumer Protection Advisory Committee, together with my colleagues, we spent last week in meetings with various agencies in Mombasa County.

We met the senior management from the county, Kenya Ferry Services, Kenya Ports Authority, Anti-Counterfeits Agency, National Environment Management Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Chamber of Commerce and Mombasa Water Company among others.

What caught my eye most is the looming danger, indeed a ticking time bomb, that is public health and overall sanitation challenges.

Consumers in Mombasa suffer from impact of acute clean water shortage. The popular tourist city has enough sewerage challenges against the ever growing demand.
While most buildings have no functional toilets, many of them have equally opened their sewers into the storm water drains.

Free to use public toilets within the town are non-existent giving rise to the challenge of open defecation.

The recent intervention by the county and various agencies that reined in on fake and contaminated bottled water is laudable. Unfortunately, the move was not sustainable.

CHLORINATION OF BOREHOLES

It is equally commendable that the county government engaged in free chlorination of boreholes and public sensitisation. But it was more reactionary and limited to make a lasting impact.

In Changamwe, for instance, most poor people use water sold cheaply in either refilled bottles or polythene papers. That water may be clear but its quality can neither be guaranteed nor verified.

Clean water costs as high as Sh70 per 20 litre jerrican from vendors. Ironically, 1,000 litres of piped water costs between Sh30 to Sh50 in Nairobi.
The four major fresh markets remain unhygienic a situation which worsen when it rains. That Mombasa has no functional dumpsite is no good news at all. Smoke emanating from temporary dumpsites adds to the web of challenges.

To feed its 1.2 million people, the county gets most of its’ food from other counties. From fresh groceries, cereals to meat, Mombasa remains a net importer of food – most of which takes long on the road.

Food on transit, especially beef and chicken, can easily go bad on account of the high temperatures. A meat inspector at the county narrated how unscrupulous butchers slaughter livestock within their premises, stamp and distribute the same for sale. Such meat is never inspected.

The national government, through the ministries of Water and Health, needs to work out an urgent arrangement to save Mombasa from a looming public health and sanitation challenge.

Stephen Mutoro is the secretary-general of the Consumers Federation of Kenya; [email protected].