A taskforce committee has been established to investigate the perennial ferry breakdown problems at the Likoni crossing channel.
The Kenya Ferry Services has been under pressure to resolve the problems at the channel, which have been putting thousands of commuters’ lives at risk.
The latest scenario was on Saturday, where MV Kwale, one of the recently procured vessels, developed a mechanical problem and drifted into the deep waters before knocking a coral.
The incident caused panic among the 1,400 commuters on board.
On Tuesday, the Mombasa government, which has been fighting for the devolution of the ferry services, intervened to resolve the problems.
Governor Hassan Joho met with KFS managing director Musa Hassan in the governor's Kizingo office to look for a solution.
“We have agreed to form a joint task force that will look into the challenges being faced by KFS and come up with a way forward on how the county government can assist,” Joho said.
He said the team will look into how the county government will help in servicing and maintaining the existing ferries.
“The committee will also look into the possibility of purchasing a ferry for Mtongwe residents to decongest Likoni and enhance service delivery for commuters,” Joho said.
The Mtongwe channel has been closed for several years, forcing residents to use the Likoni channel.
Hassan said many ferries are old and require regular servicing, posing serious challenges in managing them.
“The maintenance of the ferries has proven quite costly. Over 300,000 people commute every day and the vehicular traffic has been increasing,” he said.
Hassan said this has led to the five ferries being overworked.
In February, two ferries broke down and had to be taken for repairs, causing a major snarl up at the channel during peak hours as only three ferries were operational.
