The flooring at Nakumatt Nyali Mall

I, and several others have noticed that the new floor tiling that is being done at the above mall/s, while quite attractive, are very impractical for walking on by the general public. This is especially so of the very shiny border tiles which are highly slippery when wet or sandy.

The sandy bit we've discovered yesterday, when some of the tiles were still not put in place and there was sand around them. Several members of the public slipped and nearly lost their balance, but, thankfully, did not fall. We would like to know who would take responsibility of such an eventuality when somebody slips and falls and gets injured? Would the company doing this work accept responsibility?

I ask this because, after I had slipped and nearly fell (I'm also disabled), I asked various senior staff at Nakumatt about whom to contact and they gave me Mr. Talasam Mohamed's business card whom I rang immediately giving my name and telling him what had happened. His response was quite unbelievable.

He claimed that the public would just have to be careful when walking on those tiles as his company cannot 'undo' the tiling and make it fit for walking by all people - young, old, fit and unfit. This, I find is a very insensitive response to a very legitimate complaint.

Then, there is the general observation of our various building constructions whose plans are passed by our Town Planning Dept. at our Council. Do ANY of these people give a moment's thought to the disabled people's plight and how the various members of the public with varying degrees of disabilities, are going to deal with the buildings whose plans they so thoughtlessly pass?

In the same way, this company which is doing the flooring of these malls, I don't think gave even a moment's thought to the fact that these tiles are quite impractical to walk on when wet, etc. And since they insist on carrying on with their work as is, I would like to know, if they will also bear the consequences of a person getting injured as a result? In other places of the world they have to or they would be sued.

When, I mentioned this to Mr. Talasam Mohamed, it did not bother him in the least and so, I told him that I would write this letter/email and send him a copy of it, too, to which he whole-heartedly agreed. I hope and pray that he will pass it on to the others in his company who are, I believe, more mature and responsible about these issues.

The saga of the burnt transformer

I have just found out from some of my neighbours whose houses are near this transformer that we, in this estate (Umoja), are going to be 'powerless' comes tomorrow morning at 8.30 am.

Now, this story has its beginnings sometime last week when we had one of our frequent and highly irritating and frustrating power outages early in the morning at around 7.00 am. Of course, Kenya Power (Weakness), hardly EVER answers their emergency lines and so it takes quite a while to rouse somebody in authority to deal with the latest outage. It took me at least 15 minutes to get such a person to take action.

Then, there's the matter of their emergency offices being all the way across town in Mbaraki from where their trucks and men have to come which includes crossing the one and only access to the North Coast, Nyali Bridge. At that time of the morning there are traffic snarl-ups there and so, this so-called emergency crew would take at least the better part of an hour to make it's way across this bridge and to any area in the North Mainland.

Well, on that day, there was supposed to be a problem around Nakumatt Cinemax and the 'official' working on it called me around mid-morning to ask if I had got my power back to which I replied, 'No!' He was very surprised with this answer as they had restored power and could not understand why we in this estate were still 'powerless'.

So, he decided to investigate and finally found that the transformer in the estate had just blown (my neighbours tell me that there was a big bang!), and there had even been flames. Of course, this meant that while the rest of the area had power, we were going to be without and this 'official' would not commit himself as to when it would be restored. The only thing he could tell me was that the matter was no longer in his jurisdiction and that he had informed his boss about it and it would be taken care of.

Well, I saw one of their cars coming in not long after and people working on the offending transformer. But, they left around lunch time and I never saw them working on the thing after, though, I found out today that they came back later in the afternoon and did something more and we got our power back, thankfully, after 4.00 pm.

Now, to come back to tomorrow. If we had a whole day's outage last week thanks to the burnt transformer and we believed that the work was done, why is it that without notice to us, the residents, is Kenya Power going to make us suffer (in this extreme heat), another 'powerless' day? What is it that they did last week? Or didn't do, for that matter?

And come to think of it, why did the transformer blow just as the power was being restored around Nakumatt Cinemax? Was it due to a power surge? Can somebody qualified enough out there investigate this, please? Why is Kenya Power making us suffer from these constant outages which result in a lot of damage? This outage has also not been advertized, yet it is going to (according to them), take 8 long hours of outage, i.e. we are supposed to get back our power at 5.00 pm and there is a big IF to this statement.

Can somebody at Kenya Power please, answer the above questions?

The lights have gone off just after 9.00 pm and calling ANY number of our 3rd class power company is an exercise in futility and frustration. Their so-called emergency numbers are ironically NOT being answered which just goes to show that this company has no regard for any emergency situation.

We could be burning in a building, etc., thanks to their useless 'service', but, NOTHING will move them. They would most likely arrive when everything had become ashes and lots of people lost their lives for all they care. This definitely is NOT A CARING outfit.

As I've mentioned before, we have had it with Kenya Power.....

Re: Continuous outages...

Early this morning the power went off at about 6.45 am. Calling any of the Kenya Power (Weakness), numbers was, also an exercise in futility as nobody, including their so-called emergency numbers, were responding.

Finally after over half an hour, I managed to get through to a Mr. Chama who told me to wait for 30 minutes for them to diagnose the problem. 30 minutes came and went and when I tried calling Mr. Chama, again, he refused to answer the phone though, at times, it had an engaged tone. So, while he was using the phone, he was not answering mine. Is it because, he had no valid answer to my various questions which he knew, he would be inundated with? The same applies to all of the others, too, of course.

Since most of these people know me personally, they avoid talking to me like the plague! This means that they have no valid answer or reason for these numerous outages that we keep suffering from. And by pretending that their answers are akin to breaking an oath of the magnitude of National Security, they are not endearing themselves to those whom they purport to 'serve' - the long suffering Kenyan Public.

This latest outage ended at 9.30 am which is just 15 minutes short of being 3 hours!

A friend who owns a laundry in my neighbourhood also called me after having got thoroughly frustrated trying to get hold of these unaccountable and unethical people and she too, was of the same mind as I. That it's high time we took some drastic action like giving Kenya Power legal notice to either give us proper 'service' or else..... As I've said before, we are getting VERY FED UP with the way this and other 'service' providers work and it's time that they were taught a lesson in being efficient and accountable and answerable for what they claim to do. After all, we pay through our noses for their 'services' and in the case of power, due to their current behaviour, our umpteen electrical devices including those that are supposed to protect them (Sollatek), all start packing up leading us to waste more money than save, in trying to get them either fixed or replaced. So, we're soon going to give them the 'surprise' of their lives by asking them to account for the way they work and compensate us for the damages incurred, i.e. legal action as they do in other more 'civilized' countries.

They had better get used to this if our officialdom is planning to make us industrialized by 2030. That's how those countries became that way - by being very efficient and accountable and ethical. Unfortunately, the gang at Kenya Power (Weakness), is anything but that.

Raziya

On 9/13/2011 9:37 AM, Raziya wrote:

'Morning!

Last night, starting just after sunset and before 7.00 pm, we had our first outage which lasted for nearly an hour. The next started at around 8.30 pm and carried on for longer and Eng. Mbaluka, as always likes to be very obscure with the reasons for the outages. I personally think he's trying to cover up for their (Kenya Power - Weakness?!), inability to deal with these problems in an effective and permanent manner. He NEVER wants to give the reasons for these outages and fluctuations. I wonder why, if the above is NOT the reason?

In fact, this company is aiding and abetting insecurity in this town due to the frequent outages, especially at nights.

The latest one was a short one this morning and while it lasted for seconds, it still has the capacity to do damage to our electrical devices.

Drastic action is called for by the residents, now, since we're getting very FED UP with this everyday issue.

Re: An invitation to experience garbage burning....

Subsequent to my two emails to NEMA and other officialdom, again, last Saturday (see below), I got the following response from one of my recipients who is a doctor. I think, that and my emails speak for themselves....

Yet, nothing is being done. Why?

Raziya

On 9/11/2011 8:16 AM, Dr Juzar Hooker wrote:

This is such a serious matter with disastrous consequences for our health, affecting so many of us so much of the time, that on this kind of smoke and noise pollution, on our roads, around our our homes and in our neighbourhoods, there should be serious action taken to assist Raziya and her neighbours as well as so many of us in similar situations. Smoking lorries and vehicles are another big preventable cause of pollution (we had one in front of us yesterday for much of the way), as is noise.

Dr Juzar Hooker
Consulting Neurologist

Rooms 401/2, Doctors Plaza, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi
Phone   +254 20 3744256/7, 3662769
Telefax +254 20 3744257
E-mail: juzar.hooker@aku.edu, jhooker@africaonline.co.ke

P O Box 19396 – 00202 KNH, Nairobi, Kenya

Incompetent 'service'

Starting again, from Sat/Sun night when we had at least 2 to 3 outages in Nyali, Sunday started with another outage early in the morning when power was restored around 7.15 am. When I had rung the Engineer in-charge, Mr. Mbaluka, at no point had he given even an inkling of what else was to come in about an hour's time. Not everybody buys daily newspapers these days and therefore it would be much better if KPLC (re-branded but not changed it's work ethic in the least, to Kenya Power), would send SMSes to it's customers like they do for other things.

When at about 8.30 am, the power went off, yet again, I called the above mentioned gentleman and was told (and he had a gleeful sound to his voice), that, 'sorry, they were having a so-called 'scheduled and advertized' outage for the whole day'. I asked him why it had gone earlier than the usual 9.00 am and got the reply that, 'In fact we're late. It should have gone off at 7.00 am!'. So, my next question and observation was, if that meant that power would be restored earlier than the usual 5.00 pm. To which he replied, 'Let me see, if I can restore it earlier....'

After this, I and the rest of my neighbours thought that he would keep his word.

But, comes 5.00 pm and then 6.00 pm, there was still no sign of normalcy. This necessitated another call to Eng. Mbaluka. Many rings later, he finally answered and told me to give them another hour. One of my elderly neighbours, called me to find out if I knew when and why we were still in darkness and I passed on to him what I'd been told by Eng. Mbaluka.

Well, 7.00 pm came and went in total darkness, but, still nothing. Some of us were by then running out of battery life on our phones, too and trying to preserve whatever was left in case of emergencies. Around 8.45 pm I got a call from another neighbour wondering what was up and observing that everything in the fridge was getting defrosted and spoiled and who would be responsible for that expensive damage. I suggested to him and this applies to everybody who receive my emails - we should collectively hold Kenya Power (KPLC), responsible for spoilage, damage to health and equipment, henceforth. Since they have claimed that by re-branding their company, they are also going to be more accountable to their subscribers, then, they should be ready to face the consequences of their shoddy 'service'.

Now, you must be wondering why people were calling me to find out about the power. The reason is that they receive these missives of mine and figure that I might have some kind of inside knowledge.

Finally, the last time I called Eng. Mbaluka just before 9.00 pm, he sounded harried and told me to give them yet another hour. This was nearly 3 hours from the last time he had told me this same thing!

Because I could not sleep very well, I found that we suddenly had illumination at 11.45 pm, but, it didn't last for very long and we were thrown into darkness, again. This happened at least 4 to 5 times in the remainder of the night with awful fluctuations and at about 4.45 am the lights came on again. This time, they have stayed that way, Alhamdulillah.

But, we still haven't had an apology or an explanation for the over 15 hours of total blackout and subsequently and under cover of night, the continuous outages and fluctuations. We demand both an explanation and compensation for the damage that has resulted due to this latest fiasco.

Re: An invitation to experience garbage burning....

The above invitation has been ignored by the NEMA - both the local Mombasa branch and their head offices in Nairobi. Not only this, but, none of them have even acknowledged my email forget about replying it.

They seem to be under the impression that by doing this the problem will go away, i.e. 'die a natural death'. Well, it won't!

Unfortunately, for NEMA and most of our officialdom like the Mombasa Municipal Council who are in-charge of collecting garbage and disposing off it in an environmentally friendly manner, are ignoring these very issues and doing NOTHING about it. I suppose, they haven't heard about global warming, climate change, etc., as yet. If they haven't then I suggest that they get off their backsides and start educating themselves and start implementing their own laws and by-laws regarding the burning of garbage.

These miscreants who burn the garbage in my neighbourhood in an empty plot next to our estate are known by NEMA, but, they are taking no action against them. There is also another interesting part in this. Despite, there being a number of kiosks near this plot, not one person knows WHO set the garbage on fire. Being typical non-interfering Kenyans they are like the 3 monkeys - See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil and my addition to this would be 'Do Nothing'. Why, one wonders....?! Does the plot owner have 'connections' with someone who is in turn also 'connected'? And in this country such things always boil down to politics. So, who is really responsible for this non-action?

And the interesting part of all this is that, this thug who owns the plot, knows exactly when to do the burning. It is always done under cover of darkness, or like this morning, on a weekend, when s/he knows that not one person in 'officialdom' (NEMA), will want to take action at a time when they are off. Because, when I could not get any response to my repeated calls to Mr. Ben Wemali who is in-charge of this out here, I decided to call NEMA's Nairobi offices around mid-morning when our whole building and part of the estate were enveloped in such dense smoke that we could not see the buildings across the road or even the traffic on it! The answer I finally got after calling various numbers of their Nairobi office, is that none of the officials were on duty as it was a Saturday. And that I should call about this on Monday.

Now, for these people's information, unlike them, the crooks in our midst, know exactly when to break the law and get away with it. Choose a weekend or after hours on a weekday when all of these officials will be very averse to following up on a live lead.

Therefore, it is not surprising that we have such impudent people in our midst.


On 7/27/2011 2:18 PM, Raziya wrote:

'Afternoon!

I would like to invite every NEMA representative who can make it even from Nairobi, the Municipal Council's Environment department and the Public Health one, too, to my place at a time when garbage is being burned in the neighbourhood. This, so that they will experience first hand the consequences of their inactivity in stopping this disgusting practice.

It would also help, if they, in the meantime, try and imagine what it is like for the residents of parts of our estate who have to on a daily basis, inhale this acrid smoke with minimum of ventilation in our houses and when some of us are suffering from colds and horrible bronchitis like coughs, too. Maybe, we should take the 3 mentioned above outfits to task, officially, for letting our complaints fall on deaf and uncaring ears.

Oh, but I forgot - that our Municipal Council has scant regard for the rule of law or respect for it and it seems that NEMA is also following in it's lawless footsteps.

Despite having talked to umpteen numbers of NEMA officials both in their Nairobi head office and locally, NOTHING is being done about the issue and the garbage burners in our midst are insolently doing this every single day anytime of the day or night! Of late, it's been happening during the lunch hour.

So, could you all please, accept my invitation to experience what it feels like to inhale garbage burning right outside your living quarters? And it will be a special 'treat' if some of you are suffering from a bout of cold, 'flu and coughs, too! Let's see how you like it. Not to mention the muck that will dirty the house/s just after you've cleaned up.

Today changes with Orange...... REALLY?

The above mentioned 'new face' of Orange Telkom is NOT new, i.e. they are as inefficient and unaccountable as ever and like KPLC which became Kenya Power - nothing has changed regarding either of these two companies. Ironically, both have connections to our bloated and equally unaccountable government.

I discovered on Thursday that despite having invested in an Orange 3G modem late last year, their new product, D-Link Wi-Fi, if one wants to invest in it, makes no concessions for people who already have a 3G modem. The package comes with one. So, my question to 'new' Orange is, 'What does one do with the one that one already has? What a waste of money in this day of trying economic times! After all, it is the same kind of modem that this product comes with, so why should one buy another.

The insensitive staff at the Orange shop in Nyali flippantly told me to give it away to somebody as though the 3000/- (less 1/-), I paid for it, grew on trees! And even these (the real trees), are being decimated by environment unfriendly Kenyans.

Will the 'new' Orange please, come up with a solution to the above mentioned dilemma of it's customers, please? Otherwise, they will give the impression to the public that they are out to make a fast and dishonest buck.

Revisiting the ASK Showground racket and it's possible solutions...

The above it about to take place next week smack on our (Muslim's), day of Eid, i.e. Wednesday. Now, from what I have been told about the forwarded date is so that Muslims can attend. This is fine and as Muslims we appreciate this consideration, but, what we (the Nyali residents who live in the environs of this Showground), have an objection to is the vibrating racket that emanates from this ground ALL of the days that it is on including all through the night!

Last year, the management of the Showground had scant regarding for the neighbourhood not even for NEMA's officials who repeatedly visited there to get these people to reduce their noise.

It  would seem that impunity and insolence in this country knows no bounds! All the same, I am including one of my emails from last year that I wrote with possible solutions and we hope and pray that this time round SOMEBODY out there will take heed to our pleas.

We DO NOT want to have sleepless and restless nights starting mid next week - PLEASE!!!!!

Raziya


On 8/17/2010 12:02 PM, Raziya wrote:

 'Morning!


After having suffered sleepless nights for nearly a whole week thanks to the ASK Showground maddening racket, I have several suggestions from the various residents (victims), and myself to this annual problem in the middle of a mainly residential area.


There are also some observations included.


1.    Since this is an agricultural show (basically), why include deafening and 24 hours of music into it? In other words exclude the music.


2.    If, it is not possible to do this, then, enforce a decibel level which is acceptable to the mainly residential neighbourhood. Or, have these offenders build themselves a soundproofed enclosed  space.


3.    And if even this is not enforceable and possible, then, move the whole outfit out of this neighbourhood and take it to a less populated place which is not within hearing distance of any populated place. For now, this racket can be heard for miles/kilometers away from the source e.g. the Island of Mombasa proper which is right across from English point and can even be heard in Tudor, etc. At the North Mainland, it can be heard very far, too.


Now, for the observations....


Is our Town Planning Dept. in working order? If so, are they not aware that for people to live peaceful and productive lives, they should not be mixing various things together. Like heavy commercial businesses, night-clubs/bars, etc., within a residential area?


This Show ground is a very offending case in point as well as a shipping office that has been allowed to set up shop round the corner from where I live called Sea Bulk and which attracts huge articulated traffic which is not meant for this side lane and are highly noisy and an obstruction to traffic, too. Reporting this to the Traffic Police has not resulted in any action. Maybe, the owners have 'connections'...?


RE the Showground noisy madness which NEMA was aware of from day one, but, were completely helpless in dealing with. This, I was briefly told was because the Showground management was not at all cooperative. In the process we had to put up with their racket way into the very early hours of Monday morning despite the Show itself having ended on Sunday. Why? Is NEMA without sharp enough teeth? Or were they trying not to tread on some 'interesting' toes by being 'diplomatic'?


So, can the Town Planners start putting their collective heads together and come up with a viable solution, please?


Waiting...,
Raziya

No reply or response....

'Morning!

Since 8.30 am this morning the power suddenly went off and when the newly named Kenya Power (formerly Kenya Weakness & Darkness and it's attitude is still the same!), officials were called they at first said it was coming back in 10 minutes. Then, when nearly 20 minutes had passed with no sign of 'life', I called again and was told that he would call me in 5 minutes.

This was nearly 2 hours ago and despite calling the same numbers which now are not being answered or are busy, the power is still not back and there's no explanation as to why it has suddenly gone off messing us up, yet again!

By changing it's name KPLC has definitely NOT changed it's service provision or anything else for that matter. So, why bother?

Are they EVER going to explain themselves and their shoddy 'services' to their consumers? In this country insolence is a way of life for 'service' providers and they take their clients for granted. Are we going to be spending the rest of the day and probably part of the night in darkness? And why did the power suddenly go off without any warning?