Mombasa: Looming Health Crisis As Sewage Continues To Leak On Roads, Homesteads In Changamwe

• The residents of Mombasa claimed that the sewer lines had been leaking for over 12 months, but local leaders were not doing anything about it
• They took to the streets saying that they were exposed to waterborne diseases with their children getting ill frequently due to the unhygienic conditions in the area
• A county official contacted over the matter shifted the blame to the local water and sanitation company

Mombasa - Residents of Railway Estate in Changamwe, Mombasa county have raised concern over a health hazard in the form of a leaking sewage.

Changamwe sewage leak crisis

They said the leakage was predisposing them to waterborne disease like cholera, even as the government embarked on a vaccination campaign against this dreaded disease.

Speaking in Changamwe on Wednesday, August 9, the residents said that their roads and homesteads had become a stream of raw sewage for over one and a half year.

According to the residents, raw sewage has for the last one and a half year been snaking its way into nearby shops, homes and paths, exposing pedestrians, school going children and businessmen to waterborne diseases.

What are effects of raw sewage?

Kennedy Wambua, a resident, told TUKO.co.ke that raw human waste from burst sewer lines had continued to subject them to an unpleasant spectacle and pungent stench.

“The situation has been like this for over 12 months now. We have made reports to the county officers who often go around collecting taxes but they have done nothing to that effect. This is becoming an eyesore and a threat to our health and needs to be urgently addressed," said Wambua.

He observed that, locals were staring at a health crisis as they walked and jumped over paddles of human waste on their way to buy food from shops and stalls where the excrement water was flowing by.

Clinton Mwakavi a regular customer at the open market in Changamwe said that the place was slowly becoming a health hazard and wondered why it was not bothering the county administration.

Mama mboga exposed to health risk

“This is where I source my vegetables and fruits from daily on my way home. Of late, the place has become an eyesore, with broken and overflowing sewer lines littering the area and making it impassable," said Mwakavi.

Joy Philip a community health worker told TUKO.co.ke that the area residents were having difficulty protecting their children from playing in the contaminated water flowing from burst sewer lines.

"Children will be children and often they will get in contact with the waste and fall sick regularly. We need the leaders to tell us if they think this is a life of dignity for us? The area MCA lives just here around, but since he uses his four wheel drive he can't understand what residents are going through ,"Philip quipped.

The situation worsens when it rains, according to the locals

A county official contacted by TUKO.co.ke shifted blame to Mombasa Water Supply and Sanitation Company Limited.

Deputy governor Francis Thoya who is also in charge of the environment docket was categorical that the water and sanitation company had slept on the job.