Mombasa~Water Wrangles Endangering Lives

The water shortage facing the tourist resort town of Mombasa has reached crisis level as local residents face threats of contracting water borne diseases. Water taps are permanently dry and boreholes are the only alternative source of this precious commodity.

Unfortunately for Mombasa residents, borehole water, according to Ministry of Health officials, is heavily contaminated because faeces from pit latrines seep into the boreholes as they are too close to each other.

The water available to residents in Mombasa stands at 45,000 cubic litres per day, although the demand has shot up to more than 200,000 cubic litres per day. And yet, this supply suffers constant interruptions due to obsolete equipment and interrupted power supply resulting from unpaid bills. The electricity bill by the Kenya Power and Lighting Company stands at Sh63 million, prompting the frequent electricity interruptions.

The Coast Water Services Board technical manager, Chihanga Donda, confirms the water crisis in the region. "If something is not done urgently to rectify the situation, the little water provision services is going to a halt," he warns.

Vandalism Of Transmission Lines
Donda takes issue with vandalism of the water transmission lines and break down of water pipes, which is compounding the crisis facing his organisation. "It is true that the electricity bill is too high since the power tariffs were reviewed upwards," he says. "I will not tell you how much it is because that is confidential information."

Patrick Ochieng, an official of the Mombasa water consortium, says poor garbage collection poses a serious health hazard in the town. "Mombasa people place their garbage outside their houses expecting the Municipal Council trucks to pass by and collect it but that rarely happens," he says.

He takes issue with the Mwakirunge dumpsite, pointing out that the huge mounds of garbage dumped there on a daily basis could easily find its way into the water system and endanger the lives of the residents. The solution of garbage management lies with solid waste management.

Ochieng says the management of the Coast Water Services Board has a lot to explain to Coast people over the water shortage in the region. "The water problem in this town is just a tip of the iceberg," he reveals. "The whole of this province has no water despite being a top tourism destination. Coast Water Services Board must tell us what is happening instead of directing the blame to Council water companies that can only sell water they are supplied by Coast water," he says.

Haggai Charo is a resident of Bamba, Kilifi district. He says the water crisis is breaking up homes in his village because women are forced to wake up at 4am and walk for more than 15 kilometres to fetch murky water at the nearest water pan. Due to poverty, the dirty water is consumed without boiling, which is risking the lives of the more than 5,000 Bamba residents. Already, livestock are dying in large numbers in this vallage due to lack of water.

Council Has Failed To Deliver
Mohamed Hersi, the chairman of Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers at the Coast, says the Council has failed to deliver its core services and should not be allowed to risk the lives of Kenyans. "Water reforms that gave the councils the mandate to provide water to residents was a big mistake," he says. "These institutions have failed to run even nursery schools. How do we give them such huge responsibilities like water? It is sad that Mombasa residents have been held hostage by the Council."

Hersi, who is also the general manager of Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort, says hoteliers have been forced to buy water daily for their guests to use.

Mombasa Town Clerk Tubman Otieno admits that Mombasa is a dirty city. His list of priorities includes ensuring streetlights are working, garbage is cleared and the drainage is working. "I spend nights walking to find out how to make this town better," he says. "I have come up with a proposal, which I will work on to make this city the envy of Kenya. I plead with Mombasa people to give me time to make this town the best, just like I did to Thika and Mavoko."

Otieno blames the crisis facing the town to the absence of a water board to run the water provision, which makes it difficult for Mombasa Water and Sewerage Services Company to effectively provide water to the town.

Genesis Of Trouble
Trouble in Mombasa started when Charity Ngilu, the Minister for Water, rejected the water board on allegations that it was not inclusive. "The minister advised the mayor, the four Mombasa members of Parliament and I to sit down and agree on the individuals to make up the board, but after we had consulted and arrived at our list, the minister rejected it again and came up with her own proposal," says Otieno.

The Mombasa Municipal Council rejected the minister’s list, prompting the current standoff. The Town Clerk now blames political interests for the current crisis.

"Transferring Anthony Chitavi, the managing director of Mombasa Water Services Board, from Mombasa to Malindi, will not resolve the water crisis," he says.

Mombasa mayor Abukakar Modhar also attributes the water shortage to the absence of a water board. He accuses the water minister of meddling in the affairs of the Council when the Water Reforms Act gives clear guidelines on how directors of the water company should be picked.

Kuldip Sondhi, the chairman of Mombasa and Coast Tourist Association (MCTA), says the chronic water shortage has reached crisis level. At the moment, hotels in Mombasa and beyond have to buy water on daily basis for domestic use because they are not allowed to use borehole water.

"Borehole water is only used for the toilet. For use in the kitchen and other departments, we are forced to buy clean water from companies that supply this precious commodity," says Sondhi.

Ngilu surprised Mombasa residents when she demanded that up to 50 per cent of the members of the Mombasa Water and Sewerage Company be women, despite clear guidelines on how board members should be appointed. The Mombasa mayor maintains that the minister’s demands are unacceptable and illegal.

Deputy mayor John Mcharo says the absence of a board may make it impossible for the board to receive Sh6.3 billion grant from the World Bank to rehabilitate the Mzima Water pipeline and other water sources in the region. He says the Council has decided to go to court if the minister stands her ground and handpicks the company directors and imposes them on the Council.

Wasted Water
Investigations by Home & Away indicate that while Mombasa residents go thirsty, there are several litres of water that go to waste along the Mzima pipeline between Jomvu and Changamwe as a result of vandalism. Several trucks are parked along the Nairobi-Mombasa highway and car washers do booming business.

Medical experts say the use of borehole water for domestic purposes is a time bomb because Mombasa residents in general use pit latrines. Tests conducted by the Ministry of Health indicate that faeces find their way into boreholes and contaminate water. A quick solution to this water crisis is, therefore, critical.

Health experts warn further that the water crisis in Mombasa, coupled with over reliance on borehole water, poses a great health concern to the health experts in the town. But even with such dire warnings, residents of the sprawling Kisauni and Mishomoroni area say they would rather use the ‘free’ borehole water because it is available.

Residents are aware that they must first boil borehole water before using it at home. "But we rarely do it because we believe God is there for us," says Said Athman, a resident. "We no longer think and hope for piped water."

Katana Charo, a water vendor, says the crisis is a blessing to him because he is making money from selling borehole water. Every day, he takes his mkokoteni (handcart) to the nearest free water point and fills it, then hawks the water directly to people’s homes. A 20 litre jerrican sells at Sh20. At the end of each day, Charo makes about Sh1,000. He counts himself lucky when he finds clean water because he then sells a 20 litre jerrican for between Sh30 to Sh40, increasing his earnings to more than Sh1,500 per day.

Blessing In Disguise
Charo is one of the few people in Mombasa who wishes that the water crisis continues. "That way, I will be able to make enough money to go back to my rural home in Kaloleni, Giriama, and look for a woman to marry," he says.

Fatuma Ali, a Kisauni resident, says the water crisis poses grave challenges to women. "We are forced to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to go searching for water," she says. "Often, we go to queue at the nearest water point with our jerricans. It is more common to end up with untreated water than with clean water.

"Mombasa has had water problems for a long time but I don’t think we have experienced the severity of the crisis as we are suffering now. It has been a long time since we got a single drop in our pipes and there is no explanation from the authorities."

Nema Intervention
As the water crisis rages, the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) has threatened to take the Mombasa Municipal Council to court if it continues dumping waste at the Kibarani dumpsite. Nema insists that Kibarani is an illegal dumpsite and should not be used.

Prof Mwinzi Muasya, the Nema director general, recently led a high-powered delegation of Nema board members to the Council and warned they would not issue any more warnings. "We issued them with notices to cease dumping garbage at Kibarani as from June 20, 2008. There is a designated waste disposal site at Mwakirunge, which is not far off from Mombasa city."

It emerged during the site visit that the Mombasa Municipal Council has not applied for a license to transport garbage.
~ Ngumbao Kithi of Daily Nation - Nov 2009