http://www.themuslimtimes.org/2012/03/science-and-technology/new-metamaterial-design-may-usher-new-generation-of-solar-cells
'Evening!
Considering that we continue to have an untold number of outages of an unexplained nature, the above link should help our Kenya 'Power' to give us a better service than the present shoddy and unaccountable one?
At this rate, I can't imagine us being a developed nation even by 2030! Because, Kenya Power CANNOT seem to be able to think outside the box.... We do need power to develop since we cannot do it in darkness (of various kinds...), and that too of the present unpredictable kind. With their very tired excuse of 'broken wires'.
What kind of material do they use? And what kind of work do they do, too?
Most of the postings are to do with what an average Kenyan citizen has to deal with, in the country, to survive. They go through and are treated with a lot of injustice, where very few in 'officialdom', will take notice of their problems or even do anything about them. Hence, this blog and the belief in, 'One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshipers' - Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
Sunday, March 11, 2012
SIXTY USES OF BAKING SODA
These are excellent and inexpensive suggestions. Lovely!
Raziya
Raziya
SODA
SIXTY USES OF BAKING SODA
Bicarbonate of soda or baking soda has many different uses in the household. Although much more expensive products have been developed over the years to do the same jobs, baking soda can work for you just as well, if not better. Use it in the following ways:
1. To make your own baking powder, stir and sift together 2 parts of Cream of Tartar to 1 part baking soda and 1 part cornstarch.
2. Be sure to keep an extra box of baking soda by your stove in case of grease or electrical fire. Scatter the powder by the handful to safely put it out.
3. Keep a container of baking soda in your garage as well as in your car to put out a fire. It won't damage anything it touches.
4. Baking soda will also put out fires in clothing, fuel, wood, upholstery and rugs.
5. Clean vegetables and fruit with baking soda. Sprinkle in water, soak and rise the produce.
6. Wash garbage cans with baking soda.
7. Soak and wash diapers with baking soda.
8. Oil and grease - stained clothing washes out better with soda added to the washing water.
9. Clean your fridge and freezer with dry soda sprinkled on a damp cloth. rinse with clear water.
10. Deodorize your fridge and freezer by putting in an open container of baking soda to absorb odors. Stir and turn over the soda from time to time. Replace every 2 months.
11. Soda absorbs kitty litter odors. Cover the bottom of the kitty box with 1 part soda; then add a layer of 3 parts kitty
12. Always add 1/2 cup soda to your washing machine load.
13. Clean combs and brushes in a soda solution.
14. Wash food and drink containers with soda and water.
15. Wash marble-topped furniture with a solution of 3 tablespoons of soda in 1 quart of warm water. Let stand awhile,
then rinse.
16. Clean formica counter tops with baking soda on a damp sponge.
17. Wash out thermos bottles and cooling containers with soda and water to get rid of stale smells.
18. To remove stubborn stains from marble, formica or plastic surfaces, scour with a paste of soda and water.
19. Wash glass or stainless steel coffee pots (but not aluminum) in a soda solution ( 3 tbsp. soda to 1 quart water).
20. Run you coffee maker through its cycle with a soda solution. Rinse.
21. Give baby bottles a good cleaning with soda and hot water.
22. Sprinkle soda on barbecue grills, let soak, then rinse off.
23. Sprinkle soda on greasy garage floor. Let stand, scrub and rinse.
24. Polish silverware with dry soda on a damp cloth. Rub, rinse and dry.
25. For silver pieces without raised patterns or cemented-on handles: place the silver on aluminum foil in an enamel pot.
Add boiling water and 4 tbsp. baking soda. Let stand, rinse and dry.
26. Reduce odor build-up in your dishwasher by sprinkling some soda on the bottom.
27. Run your dishwasher through its cycle with soda in it instead of soap to give it a good cleaning.
28. To remove burned-on food from a pan: let the pan soak in soda and water for 10 minutes before washing. Or scrub the pot with dry soda and a moist scouring pad.
29. For a badly-burned pan with a thick layer of burned-on food: pour a thick layer of soda directly onto the bottom of
the pan, then sprinkle on just enough water so as to moisten the soda. Leave the pot overnight, then scrub it clean next day.
30. Rub stainless steel and chrome with a moist cloth and dry baking soda to shine it up. Rinse and dry. On stainless steel, scrub in the direction of the grain.
31. Clean plastic, porcelain and glass with dry soda on a damp cloth. Rinse and dry.
32. Remove that bad smell from ashtrays with soda and water.
33. Sprinkle a bit of dry soda in your ashtrays to prevent smoldering and reduce odor.
34. Clean your bathroom with dry soda on a moist sponge - sink, tub, tiles, shower stall, etc.
35. Keep your drains clean and free-flowing by putting 4 tablespoons of soda in them each week. Flush the soda down with hot water.
36. Soak your shower curtains in water and soda to clean them.
37. To remove strong odors from your hands, wet your hands and rub them hard with soda, then rinse.
38. Sprinkle baking soda on your wet toothbrush and brush your teeth and dentures with it.
39. Sprinkle soda in tennis shoes, socks, boots and slippers to eliminate odor.
40. Add 1/2 cups or more of baking soda to your bath water to soften your skin.
41. Putting 2 tbsp. of baking soda in your baby's bath water will help relieve diaper rash irritations.
42. Apply soda directly to insect bites, rashes and poison ivy to relieve discomfort. Make a paste with water.
43. Take a soda bath to relieve general skin irritations such
as measles and chicken pox.
44. Take 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1/2 glass of water to relieve acid indigestion or heartburn.
45. Gargle with 1/2 tsp. baking soda in 1/2 glass of water. Freshens and cleans your mouth.
46. Used as a mouthwash, baking soda will also relieve canker sore pain.
47. To relieve sunburn: use a paste of baking soda and water.
48. Bug bites: use a poultice of baking soda and vinegar.
49. Bee sting: use a poultice of baking soda and water.
50. Windburns: moisten some baking soda and apply directly.
51. Making Play Clay with baking soda: combine 1 1/4 cups water, 2 cups soda, 1 cup cornstarch.
52. Use soda as an underarm deodorant.
53. If your baby spits up on his shirt after feeding, moisten a cloth, dip it in baking soda and dab at the dribbled shirt. The odor will go away.
54. When scalding a chicken, add 1 tsp. of soda to the boiling water. The feathers will come off easier and flesh will be clean and white.
55. Repel rain from windshield. Put gobs of baking soda on a dampened cloth and wipe windows inside and out.
56. Add to water to soak dried beans to make them more digestible.
57. Add to water to remove the "gamey" taste from wild game.
58. Use to sweeten sour dishcloths.
59. Use dry with a small brush to rub canvas handbags clean.
60. Use to remove melted plastic bread wrapper from toaster. Dampen cloth and make a mild abrasive with baking soda.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
While I am out of town, I found out that my friend's father, with whom I've left my duplicate post box key, still could not open my box nearly a month after I had paid my rent because it was sealed, yesterday.
The box was sealed last month on the 21st of November 2011 just because I forgot to pay my box rental within the 21 days. I was late by just a day in making this hefty payment at which point I rang up two senior 'officials' of Mombasa's POSTA to make certain that my box was unsealed, but it seems that while our POSTA, like every other so-called 'service' provider is very lax (this is a mild word), in providing their services, they are super efficient when it comes to cutting off these questionable services.
On the dot of 21 days, my box was sealed! But, even after making immediate payment AND informing 2 of its very senior 'officials' of this, they had not bothered to unseal my box till I followed this up with POSTA from half way across the country by making countless calls for them to take action, yesterday.
During my last call, I was informed of the fact that POSTA was supposed to be on strike, did I not know? But, since I had made the payment a whole month before this questionable strike, it was interesting to observe to my POSTA official that the box should have been unsealed immediately that payment was received by them. Instead, they did not.
And the interesting thing about all this is that it is just my friend's father's word against POSTA's. I would prefer to believe my friend's father since I know from previous bitter experiences that our POSTA works (if it ever does), anything but efficiently.
These people have gone of strike - but the kind of services they offer (at least in Mombasa), leaves a lot to be desired. Since the beginning of the year they have lost 3 very important letters of mine from my family in the USA. Then, since people who send you registered mail don't necessarily inform you about this, our POSTA nearly misplaced one of my registered mail, also. All because, somebody out in Nairobi 'forgot' to key in the registered mail number which resulted in nobody being able to follow it on the Internet including Mombasa's POSTA! The only information they had was that it had left it's original port at a particular date. After that nothing could be traced of it.
Mercifully, it was finally found at Mombasa's POSTA nearly a week after it had actually arrived! How does such an organization really justify it's current strike? And how dare they, considering they are as inefficient as the rest of this country's so-called 'service' providers? By increasing their pay, I personally don't think they will change their work ethic.
The only thing they are interested in is MONEY! This country literally worships it. They have no humanity in them - not a jot!
The box was sealed last month on the 21st of November 2011 just because I forgot to pay my box rental within the 21 days. I was late by just a day in making this hefty payment at which point I rang up two senior 'officials' of Mombasa's POSTA to make certain that my box was unsealed, but it seems that while our POSTA, like every other so-called 'service' provider is very lax (this is a mild word), in providing their services, they are super efficient when it comes to cutting off these questionable services.
On the dot of 21 days, my box was sealed! But, even after making immediate payment AND informing 2 of its very senior 'officials' of this, they had not bothered to unseal my box till I followed this up with POSTA from half way across the country by making countless calls for them to take action, yesterday.
During my last call, I was informed of the fact that POSTA was supposed to be on strike, did I not know? But, since I had made the payment a whole month before this questionable strike, it was interesting to observe to my POSTA official that the box should have been unsealed immediately that payment was received by them. Instead, they did not.
And the interesting thing about all this is that it is just my friend's father's word against POSTA's. I would prefer to believe my friend's father since I know from previous bitter experiences that our POSTA works (if it ever does), anything but efficiently.
These people have gone of strike - but the kind of services they offer (at least in Mombasa), leaves a lot to be desired. Since the beginning of the year they have lost 3 very important letters of mine from my family in the USA. Then, since people who send you registered mail don't necessarily inform you about this, our POSTA nearly misplaced one of my registered mail, also. All because, somebody out in Nairobi 'forgot' to key in the registered mail number which resulted in nobody being able to follow it on the Internet including Mombasa's POSTA! The only information they had was that it had left it's original port at a particular date. After that nothing could be traced of it.
Mercifully, it was finally found at Mombasa's POSTA nearly a week after it had actually arrived! How does such an organization really justify it's current strike? And how dare they, considering they are as inefficient as the rest of this country's so-called 'service' providers? By increasing their pay, I personally don't think they will change their work ethic.
The only thing they are interested in is MONEY! This country literally worships it. They have no humanity in them - not a jot!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
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 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?
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?
Friday, September 16, 2011
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.....
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.....
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
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:
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.
Monday, September 12, 2011
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:
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.
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.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
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:
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.
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