The fact that the entire Lamu archipelago has only two water buses despite high demand, begs the question why?
Renowned Lamu boatmaker Lali Shali says the answer lies in the cost of manufacturing large boats.
The water bus industry is considered a preserve of a few individuals who can afford the extremely high cost of buying and maintaining one.
Shali explains that the larger the boat specifications, the higher the cost and vice versa.
“Many of the orders we get are for smaller vessels because the cost is equally lower. I haven’t worked on a large boat order for 15 years and counting. That tells you that not many people can afford them,” he says.
While a speed boat goes for between Sh1 million and Sh1.5 million, a water bus costs between Sh3 million and Sh4.5 million to make.
Also, while the small speed boats take less than a month to assemble, a water bus will take close to three months.
“The work involved in assembling a water bus is much more demanding and requires more keenness than with the smaller boats,” Shali says.
To add to the coast, not everyone knows how to design and make a traditional water bus.
COMPLICATED ART
Boatmaker Ali Hassan explains that the traditional art of boatmaking is unique, complicated and time-consuming as each vessel demands different skill-sets and attention.
Most traditional boatmakers have no formal education but learnt the art by apprenticeship and watching those before them while the modern-day artisans want nothing to do with the latter.
The cost and time spent on making a boat vary depending on the size, type and number of materials needed.
“Very few artisans deal in large boats and most are old. The younger ones prefer making speed boats. That also explains why the water buses are few,” Hassan says.
Investor Khaldun Vae explains that demand for small boats is higher, hence, the small number of water buses.
“The cost of production of a speed boat is lower than the water buses. In essence, the water buses take longer to build compared to the latter. The market demand for the water buses also is not as high as that for normal boats,” he says.
But the number of passengers is high and there are increasing calls for investors to step in.
Vae says at least 5,000 people are transported in the archipelago daily.
Salim Kalama has a farm in Kiwayu, Lamu East. He travels between his home and Lamu island where he supplies watermelons daily, aboard the water buses.
“There are just two, which are barely enough, because the number of people moving is quite high. It would be better if we had more,” he says.
The Kenya Maritime Authority recently announced plans to engage traditional boatmakers in Lamu county in an initiative aimed at expanding the art and ensuring it is passed down to future generations.
The authority worries that the unique boatmaking art could soon go extinct considering it’s only the older generation that seems to know the intricacies involved.
The younger generation has little interest in this art.
KMA chairperson Geoffrey Mwango says there is a need to harness the traditional art of boatmaking and ensure it stays on, considering its uniqueness and timelessness.
Mwango urges the youth to embrace boatmaking to keep the art alive and as a source of livelihood.
He says they are working on an initiative where youths will be recruited and trained by skilled craftsmen on boat and dhow making.
The Lamu archipelago is made up of more than 35 small inhabited islands that have a population of over 5,000 boats.
There are less than 300 boatmakers.
“We cannot afford to let such an art just die out. They might not have learnt it in class, but the boatbuilders here have skills no one can beat and we want to harness that and pass it on to the coming generations,” Mwango says.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
