Lamu-bound passengers forced to use boats to cross damaged road

Passengers travelling to Lamu from Mombasa are being forced to pay Sh400 for boat rides to cross a section of Garsen-Lamu road that has been washed away by floods.

The authorities say it will take longer to repair the road since two sections of the highway have been cut off by the floods.

Vehicles cannot cross the cut off sections, hence the need to use boats.

Gamba police station has now been turned into a boat 'stage' passengers destined for Lamu.

Passengers destined for Lamu say the extra cost for the boat services has made travelling too costly.

Passenger Omar Jillo said, “One has to spend an extra Sh400 on top of the fare you paid from Mombasa to get a boat to help you cross the cut off section of the road. It is a short distance that one can walk, but because of the raging floods, you have to take a boat.”

He said most people have been forced to cut short their trips to Lamu as they are unable to raise the amount required for the journey.

Jillo appealed to the national government to speed up the repair works on the road for normalcy to resume.

Gobole Ali, yet another passenger heading to Lamu, said, “Most of us cannot afford the Sh400 charged for one to board a boat due to the high cost of living."

The water level in Gamba area is gradually going down, but because the road has been badly damaged, vehicles and people cannot use that section of the highway.

Meanwhile, the flood disaster is worsening in Tana River county as more villages continue being submerged.

For the first time, villages such as Ozi, Kau Shirikisho and Chamwanamuma in Tana Delta, which are on higher grounds, have been affected by the floods and residents are moving to safer grounds.

Kenya Red Cross Society regional manager Hassan Musa said a team has been dispatched to evacuate those who are marooned in Kau and Ozi.

He said the water, which started flowing from Madogo to Bura, Galole has now reached the downstream area of Madogo and the impact is big as there are villages that have never been affected by floods previously and are now submerged.

Musa said the disaster situation is overwhelming and appealed to well-wishers and donors to intervene and provide humanitarian support for the victims.

“We are urging those living in Kilelengwani, Kau, Chamwanamuma, Ozi, and Shirikisho to move out immediately. We will try to evacuate them as the water level is rising every hour,” he said.

Musa said they are assisting the flood victims in camps but the number of those affected is rising each day, which is overwhelming them.

“The camps are so many to an extent that our ability to support all of them is going down. We appeal to other stakeholders to help us to reach out to all those affected by the floods,” he said.

Musa said in Lamu cases of cholera have been reported and the county government is set to dispatch cholera kits.

He said the major challenge they are facing as an organisation is to ensure all camps have access to fresh water. He urged for support to prevent cholera.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, who toured Tana River on Monday, said they have started delivering relief food to villages which have been cut off.

He said Tana River is the worst-hit county by the floods in Kenya

Gachagua said they have allocated Sh1 billion to the Transport ministry to repair roads damaged by the floods, and Tana River is among the beneficiaries.