• Business activities are more costly as traders use the longer alternative route.
• A tractor driver drowned last month after a drift was washed away by heavy rain.
Image: ELIAS YAA
Kinani residents in Kalololeni constituency have questioned the workmanship of three drifts after they were washed away barely a month after completion.
They have called on the MCA Yassin Noordin to intervene and compel the county government to repair them, saying they have claimed lives.
One person was washed away by raging water last month at Kwa Kabozo drift along Kizurini -Kinani road which was damaged during a heavy downpour. The drift was constructed at Sh9 million.
Speaking at the drift on Tuesday, resident John Yaa said the construction of the drifts was shoddy which made heavy rains weaken them.
“We want the county government to take this as an urgent issue and have the roads repaired because it is now a threat to the lives of road users. The road is inaccessible during emergencies. Children who go to Kizurini and Kaloleni schools are forced to use the longer route to be safe,” Yaa said.
He added, "The drift started wearing off even before the beginning of the heavy rains and we asked our MCA if the government could use disaster funds to repair it before causing harm. But all that fell on deaf ears."
They said several drifts were washed away including Mkonzo and Kibanda Charo drifts along Kwa Charo-Makomboani road.
The damaged drifts have paralysed transport, making business activities more costly as traders use the longer alternative route to take their commodities to Kaloleni and Mombasa.
Lorries delivering maize flour and other foodstuff cannot use the roads.
Boda boda riders are now charging Sh250 from Sh100 per passenger. The permanent parts of the bridges are the only ones left in the middle of the roads after soils on both ends were washed away, leaving a deep gap which is now the route for water.
Michael Katana said all roads in the Northern part of Kaloleni constituency are in poor condition even after the county allocated money for their construction.
“During the construction, a very thin layer of tarmac is spread on the roads and it's declared ready for use. Within a short time, the roads start wearing off. We need the county government to award tenders to competent contractors,” Katana said.
Chengo Katsole, who lost a relative, called upon leaders to work with the community in the grassroots to know their problems.
Zawadi Taabu Randu, a tractor driver, drowned last month around 9pm at the bridge on his way home from Kaloleni town where he had gone to deliver money to his boss.
His body was retrieved metres away after a long search.
MCA Noordin said all roads in his wards were constructed in a substandard manner and blamed the engineers from the public works department for the fault.
“If the rains continue, more than 10 bridges will be damaged because they were constructed such that when the water volume is high and moving fast, both ends of the bridges are washed away disconnecting them from the earth,” he said.
Edited by R.Wamochie