• Protesters reject plans by state to build a dry port in Naivasha saying town is already supported by flower industry.
• Report by UoN said more than 8,000 workers would lose their jobs if state continues to use freight trains.
Mombasa residents against the transportation of cargo by the SGR took to streets on Monday, promising daily protests until the government addresses the matter.
They disrupted transport in Makupa Causeway, the only link between Mombasa island to Mombasa West and Mombasa-Nairobi Highway.
Businessmen, long-distance truck drivers, Container Freight Station workers, clearing and forwarding agents, clerks and a section of port workers took part in the protest.
Carrying banners and placards written ‘Stop SGR', ‘Mombasa is dead’, ‘Say no to poverty’ and others, the protesters criticised the silence of local leaders on the issue.
The protesters under First Action Business Community Group have called on the state to put up measures to counter the loss of thousands of jobs.
“We are not going to relent on this. We are going to paralyse business in Mombasa until we get back our jobs,” FABC interim chairperson Benard Simiyu said.
He addressed the press during protests at Changamwe roundabout.
Simiyu accused Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia of arrogance for failing to intervene "as Mombasa-based cargo transporters closed shops".
“We do not want to become beggars, we want to work with our own hands," he said.
They rejected plans by the state to build a dry port in Naivasha saying the town’s economy is already supported by flower business.
The protesters were joined by Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir.
“Something needs to be done. The national government should stop the economy of Mombasa from collapsing," Nassir said.
A spot check by the Star showed that yards of the majority of cargo transportation companies remain empty compared to before SGR took over.
A report released by the University of Nairobi earlier this month showed that more than 60 per cent of employees working at the Container Freight Stations have been sacked.
It also said the state lost more than Sh126 billion in revenue in one year from Mombasa county since the introduction of freight trains.
The report on Socio-economic Impact of the Operationalisation of the Standard Gauge Railway also noted that more than 8,000 workers would lose their jobs.
Edited by R.Wamochie