The 189th reminder.... to the PERSON/S CONCERNED - Burst sewage pipe... and the Council, continues

I've received the following response from one of the Water Consortium members of which I'm, one....., unfortunately.

If you read it, you will get the impression that because this is Kenya which is ridden by bad politics, awful and domineering 'god fathers', including the most mismanaged local authority (Municipal Council), we, the residents have to forcibly put up with shoddy 'services'. Why should it be so?

Considering the French Govt., has recently coughed up millions of shillings to improve water and sanitation issues for the residents, here, why are the people concerned in the persons of the Council Engineer and his minions in the form of one called Abdul Majid not be held accountable?

We, the residents of this town (garbage dump?!), who pay rates and in particular this Council Estate, who pay hiked up rents to this Council (which does no maintenance), don't care if these 'officials' are paid their salaries on time by their 'employer', or not. They have a duty to perform which is the reason for their existence and the fact that they hold a 'job'. Why don't they do it? If they can't, can these people use the excuse that they haven't been paid (so the wider public knows what's really going on), and walk out of their offices till they are, please?

Will the the Minister for Local Authorities also make a full investigation on the Mombasa Municipal Council, please? We have one of the most corrupt, unaccountable and bloated council in the entire country, I think!

Unfortunately, this 'monstrosity' has also got involved in our water and sewage 'delivery'. Who allowed them to put their 'sticky' fingers in this sector? After all they have a disgusting and very visible record of non-garbage collection which their uncovered trucks usually re-distribute elsewhere on their supposed way to the town dumping site. Why allow such a hopeless 'case' to get involved elsewhere? They are totally incompetent.

As regards moving my tank up - this person is, I think, being sarcastic. If I could afford all the things he's talking about, I wouldn't be living in a Council flat in an estate which is more than half way into becoming a concrete slum!

Add to all these woes, we still don't have any water, but get phantom bills!

Grieves Insight wrote:

Raziya,

I have tried to analyse the behaviour of the officials you interacted with and have formed the following opinion;

1. Ms Miriam of the Municipal Council could have rightly reacted the way she did owing to the many frustrations that are within the Local Authority. You may have wanted her to act at your speed but at the Council things happen at their pace. Did you try to inquire if she had received her last month's salary? You could, may be, understood her reaction to your issue.

2. Eng. Mugo was quick enough. Good. No doubts that he doesn't have any salary arrears! Don't forget that MOWASCO still doesn't have a management board and in any case Mugo didn't act accordingly, you would have had nowhere to go.

3. Eng. Mazuri may have been honest by Kenyan standards. But who knows that his juniors whom he thought he would just order to come refused flatly and he could do nothing to them. Or still they are in salary arrears too and have powerful God fathers.

4. Abdul Majid had no business knowing your place! Your 'accent' was sending the wrong message...that you weren't likely to cough something.

Conclusion: Put your Underground tank at your house top. Pay more to force water up stairs but keep the health risk at least in waiting. Try to appreciate that this is Kenya where things just don't happen...until there is no way out.

Hassan Greeve

Afternoon!

Not only don't we have water coming through our taps, but, thanks to the incompetent and lazy, completely at sea, Council, a burst sewage pipe in one of their estates remains unfixed. This is exposing the residents to untold inconveniences and unhealthy living conditions.

On Tuesday, 13th Jan 2009, the water vendor who brings me 'fresh' water from the water kiosk, while filling my underground water tank, informed me that there was raw sewage getting into the hole in which this water tank stands.

Therefore, I called the Municipal Council's housing manager, Ms. Miriam Moka, to let her know of the situation. She didn't want to have anything to do with it and tried to hedge shirking her responsibilities of activating the relevant department at the Council to deal with the problem. She, when asked, also could not provide me with the telephone contacts of the 'right' person/s.

So, yesterday morning I rang an official of the Coast Water Services Board, who in turn activated the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company's Mr. Mugo. They, immediately sent over a team to look at the problem and solved as much of it as possible, i.e. what was relevant to them. I was, for once very impressed by their quick response and especially one called Mr. Mwamburi who went out of his way to call the Council's Deputy Engineer, Mr. Mazuri and tell him that the 'ball was now in their court' since in involves fixing a burst sewage pipe which is leaking raw sewage into the hole where my water tank stands.

He also provided me with his (Eng. Mazuri's), mobile number and advised me to call him immediately as well as after a couple of hours to remind him about the issue. I did what he suggested and also to introduce myself to the good engineer. All this took place in the presence of Mr. Mwamburi who was a witness to the first conversation. Eng. Mazuri promised me that he would send somebody over as soon as possible.

Later in the afternoon, I tried calling Eng. Mazuri again to remind him and his phone was switched off. So, I called the helpful Mr. Mwamburi from MOWASCO, again, who was a bit surprised as to why Eng. Mazuri didn't answer his phone. But, he provided me with another name and number. That of Mr. Abdul Majid at the Council who is supposed to be directly involved with such issues.

I at once called his number which he answered but, claimed that he couldn't hear what I was saying and cut the line off. I tried calling again and this time, while he could make out what I was saying said that I should go to the Council to sort this matter as he couldn't understand my accent. We were both talking English.

Subsequent calls to either of the above gentlemen went unanswered for the remainder of the afternoon. Therefore, I troubled Mr. Mwamburi, yet again, to inform him of the latest and though he was out of town at the time, he still tried calling them and then informing me that while Mr. Abdul Majid's phone had been switched off, he managed to talk to Eng. Mazuri who assured him that something would be done about it, though no time frame, or by what date.

This morning, I got a call from Mr. Abdul Majid asking me about the burst sewage pipe and it's location. While I was trying to explain to him the location, he behaved like he didn't even know the Nyerere Municipal Estate and sounded completely at sea. He even told me to come and get him from the Council to show him the exact location. This is very strange and ridiculous since this is a well known Council estate with the Council's own employees living in the staff flats here. The only thing he needed was my flat number.

While he told me that he would come there himself because I refused to play estate guide to him, he or his 'team' have still not appeared on the scene. Maybe, they have lost their way due to the many unplanned 'dwellings' that they (the Council), have allowed to be 'developed' here.....?!

I wonder when the Council will get it's act together and deal with this burst sewage pipe...., if ever? They have no ethics or morals as I've previously mentioned countless times.

Raziya

The 188th reminder.... to the PERSON/S CONCERNED - Burst sewage pipe... and the Council

Not only don't we have water coming through our taps, but, thanks to the incompetent and lazy, completely at sea, Council, a burst sewage pipe in one of their estates remains unfixed. This is exposing the residents to untold inconveniences and unhealthy living conditions.

On Tuesday, 13th Jan 2009, the water vendor who brings me 'fresh' water from the water kiosk, while filling my underground water tank, informed me that there was raw sewage getting into the hole in which this water tank stands.

Therefore, I called the Municipal Council's housing manager, Ms. Miriam Moka, to let her know of the situation. She didn't want to have anything to do with it and tried to hedge shirking her responsibilities of activating the relevant department at the Council to deal with the problem. She, when asked, also could not provide me with the telephone contacts of the 'right' person/s.

So, yesterday morning I rang an official of the Coast Water Services Board, who in turn activated the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company's Mr. Mugo. They, immediately sent over a team to look at the problem and solved as much of it as possible, i.e. what was relevant to them. I was, for once very impressed by their quick response and especially one called Mr. Mwamburi who went out of his way to call the Council's Deputy Engineer, Mr. Mazuri and tell him that the 'ball was now in their court' since in involves fixing a burst sewage pipe which is leaking raw sewage into the hole where my water tank stands.

He also provided me with his (Eng. Mazuri's), mobile number and advised me to call him immediately as well as after a couple of hours to remind him about the issue. I did what he suggested and also to introduce myself to the good engineer. All this took place in the presence of Mr. Mwamburi who was a witness to the first conversation. Eng. Mazuri promised me that he would send somebody over as soon as possible.

Later in the afternoon, I tried calling Eng. Mazuri again to remind him and his phone was switched off. So, I called the helpful Mr. Mwamburi from MOWASCO, again, who was a bit surprised as to why Eng. Mazuri didn't answer his phone. But, he provided me with another name and number. That of Mr. Abdul Majid at the Council who is supposed to be directly involved with such issues.

I at once called his number which he answered but, claimed that he couldn't hear what I was saying and cut the line off. I tried calling again and this time, while he could make out what I was saying said that I should go to the Council to sort this matter as he couldn't understand my accent. We were both talking English.

Subsequent calls to either of the above gentlemen went unanswered for the remainder of the afternoon. Therefore, I troubled Mr. Mwamburi, yet again, to inform him of the latest and though he was out of town at the time, he still tried calling them and then informing me that while Mr. Abdul Majid's phone had been switched off, he managed to talk to Eng. Mazuri who assured him that something would be done about it, though no time frame, or by what date.

This morning, I got a call from Mr. Abdul Majid asking me about the burst sewage pipe and it's location. While I was trying to explain to him the location, he behaved like he didn't even know the Nyerere Municipal Estate and sounded completely at sea. He even told me to come and get him from the Council to show him the exact location. This is very strange and ridiculous since this is a well known Council estate with the Council's own employees living in the staff flats here. The only thing he needed was my flat number.

While he told me that he would come there himself because I refused to play estate guide to him, he or his 'team' have still not appeared on the scene. Maybe, they have lost their way due to the many unplanned 'dwellings' that they (the Council), have allowed to be 'developed' here.....?!

I wonder when the Council will get it's act together and deal with this burst sewage pipe...., if ever? They have no ethics or morals as I've previously mentioned countless times.

Messing up our Sunday!

One of the reasons that I'm writing this email at this time is thanks to our useless Kenya Weakness & Darkness otherwise trying to go under the name of KPLC.

Yesterday, on a Sunday, no less, they took away power from the whole town on the pretext of 'maintenance'! Why should maintenance be done on a Sunday when most people are home and would like to relax and in this sweltering heat, need fans that are working, at least?

The excuse given by one Eng. Mbaluka when I asked him this question was that it was like any other day and somebody or the other would have an objection to an outage. Then, another employee of this useless and secretive company (one wonders why they are trying to hide the fact that the whole town of Mombasa was involved or even previously that twice the whole country was in darkness late last year), who was stationed at the emergency office, responded with this, ' but we are not a developed country....', a perpetual song that all of these service providers sing when confronted by a comparison to other more accountable countries is presented to them. No wonder that with such thinking, we will ALWAYS remain what is rudely called a 'banana republic'.

This latest outage of a whole town in the name of 'maintenance' on a Sunday smacks of overtime. That would be the only reason that most of us can think of when these people insensitively take away power on a Sunday! They get more money for 'working' on an 'off' day!

All of our 'service' providers make me thoroughly SICK....., literally! And I, for one have really had it and cannot stand anymore of this horrible attitude on the part of people who are supposed to be providing us services but, don't. Not only this, but, they charge us an arm and a leg for their incompetence and insensitivity, too! Talk about adding salt to an injury....

Food for thought in the NEW YEAR2009!

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold December morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that a thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it.

No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected
context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing? ??????


Wishing you a happy,healthy & Prosperous new year!

Missing mail, again

As I mentioned in another email, yesterday, that it's the height of irony to greet another countryman/woman a happy new year. For while on the eve of it, we started in the hesitant hope that it would be better than what we were living behind, (thank God!), just a week into it, and we're swamped with the ever present shoddy 'services' from all quarters!

Of course, most of the so-called 'service' providers starting with the ineffective and horrible council to the water delivery and now the postal 'services'. Nothing works efficiently in this country. At least, not without many visits, calls and frustrations. Why should this be so?

We seem to have the most questionable work ethic and unaccountability everywhere....., including private companies. Why?

This latest is about missing mail. My post box has been surprisingly and strangely empty for the past nearly 4 weeks! Calling the head postmaster (3 times), since yesterday, hasn't brought any light to the condition. How strange that I haven't even received the ever present bills not to mention my official letters from various institutions and the magazines I subscribe to.

The head postmaster, insists that there is no mail for me. My response is - for a week or two this could be possible, but, definitely NOT, for 4 weeks!!!! As I've always maintained, our postal 'services' seem to employ, semi- or illiterates or their employees are under the influence while at work and therefore do not put the right mail into the correct box. In the process our mail goes missing......, sometimes never to be seen, again!

I will be ever so glad on the day that I depart from this horrible and unaccountable country, either to my Maker or to better and 'greener' pastures, Insha'Allah.

The 187th reminder.... to the PERSON/S CONCERNED

HAPPY NEW YEAR....., hopefully!

It's been less than 3 weeks since the last major water pipe 'burst', which even closed down the water kiosks for a week and today, I was informed that there's been another and there's no 'fresh' water to be had even from the water kiosks. Have any of these 'water officials' ever tried finding out what other countries do to deal with persistent pipe bursts? One hardly hears of 'civilized' nations going without water for days on end. Such incidences are dealt with within hours and everything is well maintained. And anything that take days, is compensated for. We have no such 'luxury', unfortunately.

What kind of country do we live in? And what do the various 'officials' including the Ministry think the word 'civilization', means? According to my Collins Pocket Dictionary and Thesaurus, it means a refined, cultured society. Is this applicable in this case?

And why are the 'water officials', including the Ministry, reducing this 'city' to a village status by 'planting' water kiosks all over, instead of the residents getting piped fresh water consistently? There are many parts of this town that haven't seen a drop of fresh water in their pipes/taps in YEARS!!!! This area (Kizingo), being one of them.

So, can we greet each other with the above greeting, when the residents of a major town are having to go without water, a basic necessity of life?

Noise in the name of functions and religion - 35th reminder to NEMA and others concerned....

Last night being a weekday, one would hardly expect a very noisy function to take place, then. But, while the people celebrating whatever it is they want to, whenever they want to, it is not alright for them to disturb the neighbourhood while doing so.

These merry makers seem to be totally oblivious of the fact that their racket is not wanted in any residential neighbourhood with two hospitals within hearing distance. In fact, one is right next to this offending hall that is consistently hired for this purpose.

Also, in this category are the so-called public officials who give out permits for these kinds of functions to be held. They seem to be completely without any sensitivity and deliberately feign ignorance of the fact that this hall as well as other similar venues like churches, mosques and clubs where such noisy events (including prayers), are held will be highly offensive to the ones living within hearing distance of these places. What are the town planners doing about this?

When one rings the cops, they take their own time in taking any action and some even tell us that these people have permits to make their noise till 11.00 pm! How dare any of these public officials decide for us the time to go to sleep? And what about the children, the elderly and the sick? So, while these pests (noise makers), have the so-called 'freedom' of enjoying themselves, the rest of the residents' right of having peace and quiet is usurped.

What kind of justice is this? Can somebody please, explain this to us? What are the various environmental pollution outfits including NEMA doing about it? Don't they have a law regarding noise?

Re: GARBAGE DUMP in 'RESIDENTIAL GANJONI',MOMBASA!

Hi, Shaileen!

We've all written (even with photographs), umpteen numbers of emails, etc., to all these people, yet, nothing is being done. The insolence of these so-called 'service' providers knows no bounds. Surprisingly, even our 'media', has overlooked this very 'hot' story. I wonder why....?

Is there some big shot involved in this?

And why is our Council, so fast in reacting to the residents' plan on moving those bins to a less offensive area, yet, drags it's corrupt and lazy feet in giving 'service'? I wish, such bins were outside a media house or a big shot's place. But, then, as the well worn adage goes, if wishes were horses......, the beggars would rule!

Our Council and it's minions who 'work' there, are not in those offices (if at all), for giving us, residents, services, but for their own selfish corrupt ends.

I'm beginning to give up on this town and country, for, nobody (who should be), is accountable for the job/s they are supposed to do. They are obsessed by money!!!! And doing as little as work as possible.

Raziya

Shaileen N.P.N Shah wrote at 2:53 PM on 6th Jan '09:

Hello Mr.T.Otieno

The above on ArchBishop Makarious road is a HEALTH HAZARD! Many Ganjoni residents have complained to MMC,and remedial steps have failed to rectify this!

We appeal to you to remove the above ASAP!

We thank you in anticipation,
Mr.Shaileen NPN Shah,MRPharmS,
Ganjoni Resident and a MMC rates payer!