- Title: KENYA: NAIROBI FLOODING Environmentalists blame Nairobi flooding on corruption
- Date: 18th May 2015
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUKURU SLUM RESIDENTS DIGGING OUT MUD THAT WAS DEPOSITED BY FLOOD WATER JAMES MAYAKA, NAIROBI RESIDENT LOOKING AT DAMAGE TO HIS BUSINESS AND HOME (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMES MAYAKA, NAIROBI RESIDENT, SAYING: "We will have to start from scratch. We want to see if we will get any help from well wishers so that we can pick-up again
- Embargoed: 2nd June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACO97MUGDSNRXIYSEYOOJA7AAD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: ===PLEASE NOTE EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL===
Heavy rains have pounded Kenya's capital, Nairobi and its outskirts for weeks. A few days ago the city gave in.
Rivers burst their banks, roads disappeared in shoulder-high flood waters - sweeping away bridges and vehicles in some places and tearing off chunks of road in others. Local media reported that on one night, school children were trapped on the roof of their bus after it was submerged in water for hours, until they were rescued.
Millions of shillings worth of property has been destroyed and at least 9 people were killed when a wall collapsed in one of the city's congested slums.
This is not the first time heavy rains have wrecked havoc on Nairobi - a bustling metropolitan city of about 3.1 million people. Some observers say the authorities and the population never learn their lesson.
Kenya swings between drought and flood virtually every year.
James Makaya's barber shop, video rental store and house were destroyed when a perimeter wall built along a water way collapsed after a night of heavy rain. He says he lost everything but will rebuild - at the same place because he has no where else to go.
"We will have to start from scratch. We want to see if we will get any help from well wishers so that we can pick-up again because most of us depend on this area and this is where our businesses are," he said.
The county government attributed the flooding to clogged drainage systems and illegal construction on water ways.
Walter Mong'are, the Nairobi County Communication Director says a new recently approved city plan for Nairobi is going to ensure that there is more organized development.
"The last master plan that you saw for Nairobi was in 1973, so this city has been developing without a master plan," says Mong'are.
However, environmentalists warn that the damage done to the city's natural drainage systems may be too far gone to fix.
Nairobi expands at an annual rate of 1.6 percent, according to United Nations statistics from 2009 and the city is still growing. The growing population also means more waste and poor garbage management has led to choking of existing drain ways and water outlets.
Experts say the city's wetlands and swamps have been severely compromised by poorly regulated construction and the payment of hefty bribes to city planners.
Lillian Muchangi is the communication and advocacy director at the Green Belt Movement, an environmental organisation founded by nobel laureate Wangari Maathai. Maathai is globally recognised for her work to protect Kenya's natural ecosystems despite violent rebuttal from government officials and land grabbers.
"I think we have a big problem with approvals in this country. The procedures that are used to approve constructions, buildings, houses in this country... it's a problem," said Muchangi.
"From what I see in Nairobi, I have visited several counties, and I see buildings coming up, and you don't even need to go to school to know this is a wetland or this place is a riparian land. You can easily know that this is a river and you are supposed to leave three hundred meters from the centre of the river, and you are supposed again to leave some areas from the highest point of flooding point of that river, and we all know that but you see buildings coming up everywhere," she added.
Officials at Nairobi's county government say they have appointed a task force to oversee the improvement of drainage within the capital and have appealed to the population to practice proper waste management and stop littering. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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