Residents of Links Butterfly Estate in Nyali, Mombasa are up in arms over poor drainage that has been a headache for months, spoiling their Christmas mood this season.
The residents, led by former Nyali MP Awiti Bollo, say they have been attacked by mosquitoes owing to the stagnant water that accumulates for weeks in their neighborhood whenever it rains.
They say water now gets into their houses up to knee-level whenever heavy rains pound.
The matter has been made worse by the current heavy rains pounding in Mombasa County.
They blame the contractors of a nearby mall, whom they accuse of building on a waterway and blocking drainage systems.
They also point an accusing finger at the Mombasa county government saying they have made several complaints to them but have done nothing so far.
Bollo, a businessman with interests in Nyali, Jomvu, and the CBD, said the posh Nyali of old is being turned into a slum, with poor service delivery, poor planning and haphazard construction.
He said the residents have been bombarding him at his office asking him to petition the county government on their behalf.
“I have been laying low because I want to concentrate on my businesses. But I cannot keep quiet when people are asking me to speak out against poor service delivery when there are people who were elected to give services,” Bollo said.
He said if the county will not take action he will organize a mass match to the county governor’s office to protest.
“Nyali sub-county is a key business hub that hosts many businesses that bring in the much-needed revenue to the county,” Bollo said.
Mary Atieno, who has lived in the estate for four years now, having acquired a piece of land on which she built her house, said she has thrice had to do renovations in her house to try and prevent water from getting into her house whenever it rains.
“When I got here at first, this problem was not there. It only started when this nearby mall was constructed. I have raised the perimeter wall thrice now but still the problem persists,” Atieno said.
“When it rained the last time, I did not come out of the house for almost two weeks because I was trapped upstairs. Luckily I had enough food to last me the two weeks.”
She lost electronic goods which were submerged in water.
Links Butterfly Estate chairman Rajesh Shah said the problem only started as recently as two years ago.
“Earlier on there was no problem like this. There was a waterway before this mall was built and water was going through.
“Since it (the mall) was built the waterway was blocked. We even see sewage water coming out from that side and on the road. All that water comes to the estate,” Shah said.
He said her neighbor Atieno was the most affected most recently as the estate is inaccessible.
“We were stranded in our houses. You can’t walk through, you can’t drive through. Things need to be moving. Not like this. We cannot be paying the rates and every tax and we cannot get the services,” Shah said.
Links Plaza, which sits just next to the entrance of the estate, has had to block its basement entrance to prevent water from getting into it from the main road.
“All the water from the main road flows into our estate and stays there. It is very difficult. It never used to be this way,” Shah said.
He said the county officers only come to pump out the water into an empty plot in the estate but that is unsustainable.
“It is all sewage water that is being pumped up there. Why can’t they look into the sink holes? Why can’t they make proper drainage systems?” the estate chairman said.
Farida Mohamed, a resident, said they had to twice move to an Airbnb apartment with the family after water-logged their home.
“We can’t sleep at night or during the day. When it rains, we come out expecting water to fill our houses. What Nyali is this? Is this Nyali or Moroto?” Mohamed posed.
Moroto is a slum in Tudor, Mvita sub-county.
Mohamed said she has tried reaching out to the county leadership but has been unsuccessful.
She said even the boda boda and tuktuk people refuse lucrative offers to transport the rich residents when it rains.
They say their boda boda and tuktuks will get damaged by the water.The county has issued a warning to developers undertaking construction works in wetlands and waterways.
Lands, physical planning, housing, and urban renewal executive Mohammed “Amadow” Hussein warned rogue developers saying the illegal construction of structures in wetland areas has altered the natural flow of stormwater.
“If you were given approvals for construction and you did not follow the guidelines, we will come for you. We cannot allow a few individuals to ruin the lives of hundreds of other Mombasa residents,” Amadow said.
Environmental experts also link the recent floods to the construction works in wetlands saying they have blocked the sewer lines.
In September, the Mombasa County government embarked on a rigorous stakeholder engagement seeking to put in place mechanisms to mitigate the impacts of heavy rains.
Several places were mapped as areas likely to experience flash floods within all the six sub-counties.
In Utange and Kashani within Kisauni sub-county for example, box culverts, span bridges, and vertical drains were to be installed, and those already in place unclogged.
In Ziwa La Ng’ombe for instance, the county said, at least 50 soak pits were put in place to help in collecting and disposing of waste water safely away from the houses.
“We have opened all the vertical drains and we are servicing them. As you know places like Ziwa La Ng’ombe are a basin, it is the lowest point in Nyali and all the water converges there. So we hope that the drains will help deal with the problem there,” Transport and Infrastructure executive Dan Manyala said in September.
