By NANJINIA WAMUSWA
Demand for sand has always been high in Nairobi due its widespread use in the construction of stone and brick homes.
But in the slums, a special kind of soil used for huts is now costing the earth… it is already pushing the cost of living in Kibera.
In the past few years, there has been an acute shortage of loam soil, known for its good properties in building huts – it hardens when mixed with water and binds well other materials.
Previously, people living in slums dug open fields and public land for the soil to build their own mud huts, but loam quantities have been diminishing so that astute businessmen have found the soil trade lucrative.
A full wheelbarrow load of the soil now costs Sh100 yet in the past anyone could dig and load an entire lorry for free.
At the same time, the cost of building homes has shot up and some landlords estimate they spend up to Sh30,000 to construct one.
For those interested in renting one, a bedsitter goes for Sh3,000 a month.
Landlords in Kibera say high population and demand for more houses has led to the construction thousands of huts on every piece of available land.
There are about 170,000 people living in Kibera, according to the 2009 Census.
“The high population in the slum has pushed for the demand of more houses. This has seen all free spaces which existed in the 1990s taken and used for construction of additional houses,” Peter Makau, a landlord in Makina, told The Nairobian.
Another landlord Abdullah Hassan of Kambi Muru said other pieces of land have been taken over by youth cartels.
“These youth cartels have grabbed every piece of free land and now use it to mint money, including selling soils to slum landlords. They won’t allow anyone take free of charge,” Hassan said.
“Building mud-wall houses in the slums is just as expensive as putting up a permanent house.”
Some landlords constructing the huts now travel long distances to other areas around Nairobi to get free soil, but have to meet the transport costs.
“If I want to construct a house in Kibera today, I first look for a construction site nearby for free soil and only spend money on transport, which is cheaper compared to buying soil within the slums,” Makau said.
Others, who do not have enough money to hire tucks and pay for fuel, have resorted to innovative ways of constructing huts.
They mix the little soil they have with rags or old nylon paper, or both from the garbage heaps around Kibera. Some have resorted to using old tins.
Even repair work for the constructed huts has become expensive.
Many structures in Kibera built with the loam soil are in a poor state with crevices due to years of disrepair while others are almost collapsing.
“We’re (as landlords) forced to slightly adjust rent fees whenever we repair our houses. Soil is just too expensive,” he said.
