Hundreds of families in Kwale county are unable to go to work because of the stringent measures imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
They are worried they will face starvation.
The main sources of livelihood for majority of the locals are; small-scale business enterprises, hawking and hotel industry, which were all affected by the pandemic.
Hope Avenue movement CEO Sharlete Mariam said even after the government relaxed some of the restrictions, people are still grappling with hunger.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has relaxed travel restrictions, gradually opened international flights and extended curfew hours for Kenyans to recover from the ailing economy.
Mariam said many businesses are closed and only a few hotels are operating.
She said currently there are no international guests, therefore, hundreds of people who depend on the tourism industry are still jobless.
“Hotels cannot resume normal operations because there are no tourists. Therefore, a large number of people is yet to resume work,” Mariam said.
She spoke on Friday while giving food to 800 needy Ukunda families in Msambweni subcounty.
Diani tour driver representative Charles Mweri said over 300 tour drivers have no work to date.
He said their vehicles have started to rust because they have been parked for months.
Mweri said a section of the tour drivers and hotel workers have been locked out of the rental houses, while some have notices to vacate the premises.
“We don’t know where to start, landlords want money, families are staring at you and getting jobs is a challenge, we fear soon we might live in streets,” he said.
However, he commended the government for relaxing travel restrictions, saying the industry will soon return to normal.
In March, the county government, in partnership with several stakeholders, launched a food relief program to cushion the needy families.
Resident Rashid Mwinyikai said the distributed relief food is inadequate because starvation spreads from one family to another each day.
He told Uhuru to enhance accountability on the state relief funds alleging that very few locals have received the money.
Last month, National Irrigation Board director Zainab Chidzuga asked the government to publish Sh10 billion cash transfer records after expressing doubt over the beneficiaries.
Edited by R.Wamochie
