By Rhoda Mutuku
Mombasa County have scaled up its campaign against cholera following an outbreak that claimed lives of four people and admission of scores of others.
The invigorated cleanup exercise is part of a county operation aimed at addressing public health concerns that came hot in the heels of the current eruption of the food-borne disease.
“We have regarded this problem as an emergency” said incoming executive in charge of environment Dr Godfrey Nyongesa Nato. “And this is why we have embarked on a day and night operation of removing garbage from affected areas”
Dr. Nato said the clean up exercise is expected to clear the town of chocking and littered garbage that strained the port city’s image as a tourist hub.
“We hope to clear all wastes in affected areas within two weeks” he said
The ongoing operation is targeting to remove undesignated dumpsites which have emerged in Liwatoni, Mbaraki, Mwembe Tayari and county stadium among other areas within the CBD.
Above efforts is seemingly not ample enough to help governor Hassan Joho’s administration to escape bundles of criticisms from a section of aggrieved residents who are now beginning to question why authorities had “to wait for cholera outbreak” to intervene
“Day in day out we wallow in this sorry state of garbage and inevitable chocking stench but county officials have remained unperturbed” remarked Boniface Kazungu a resident of Makande. “You mean must we wait for eventualities to pretend to react? This is a great shame to the entire county”
In the neighborhood of Majengo, another area that recorded a high number of patients with cholera symptoms also share Kazungu’s opinion, appealing for county’s extra-vigilance on sanitation matters.
“I know county officials themselves understand that playing a cosmetic approach to serious matters like sanitation is like sitting on a time bomb” said Ahmed Hassan, a fruit vendor in Majengo. “If really they are determined to get rid of garbage then they should uphold absolute consistency in their ongoing operations”
But Dr Nato says his department is determined to ensure that all residential and commercial areas within and adjacent to CBD are kept free of garbage as the county plans to get rid of main dumpsites- Kibarani and Mwakirunge which have continued to spark a flurry of public health concerns.
