The road leading off the main Nyali road to Umoja estate has been ruined by a combination of heavy vehicles, shoddy road building, no proper drainage and no legislation or rather, no practical application of the law.
Most roads are not built to take heavy traffic and with a lot of construction going on in the neighbourhood, there are countless trucks, water tankers, etc., using this road. Contractors can't be bothered about repairing what their vehicles have damaged nor does our equally incompetent Council, do anything much about the drainage problem.
About a month and a half ago, a gang from the Council showed up to clear a drainage hole and put a cover on it. Why they needed so many of them to fix one drain is anybody's guess, but, that's the way our Council works....., or doesn't. Since that day, nobody has showed up again to see the condition of the road. It has deteriorated and their drainage is not working, either.
We believe a number of complaints have gone to the Council whose responsibility it is to maintain and build this road, but, knowing our Council, they prefer to ignore complaints till one of them is involved in getting hurt due to their negligence or they are paid a bribe.
I also wonder how many millions our government is collecting every single day in fuel and road levy? Where are all the millions going? There are very few roads being built in Coast Province and Mombasa in particular, none! And why isn't there somebody overseeing the quality of the roads that are built or re-carpeted as well as the kind of drainage systems built with them, so that, the roads will not be ruined everytime we get torrential rains? What kind of shoddy workmanship do the powers that be allow?
The following are the comments for each picture, attached...
The water at our estate gate
Since the rainy season has started, the access road leading to our estate gets so flooded that it needs these pictures to bring home the agony of the residents and all the others who use this road. Especially the ones on foot.
The smaller gate with the stepping stones
Somebody has been good enough to put stepping stones for people to avoid walking in flood water.
Water, water, everywhere...
This is the potential rice field...
The extent of the flooded road outside the gate
The flooding goes beyond our gate which most people call the 'slum' area. This is where the majority of the poor and downtrodden live. They do not own cars nor does public transport go this far in. Therefore, these people have to deal with having to negotiate the flooding everytime it rains heavily.
People who have to deal with the flooded road everytime it pours!
While these people try to step on stones from the broken road, there is still the danger of them stepping into potholes and falling, injuring themselves. This, over and above ruining their clean clothes and imagine the mess they must put up with when they eventually get to wherever they are going. The school children, some of whom are very small also have to deal with the same things as the adults and they are worse off since they are small.
Despite stepping on the stones, this poor man still gets soaked!
The stones on which people can step to avoid the water, but, when it is raining, one just can't avoid getting drenched.
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