Why major historical site is facing threat of destruction

National Museums of Kenya Director of Antiquities, Sites and Monuments Purity Kiura inspects a section of the Jumba Ruins sea wall. She said they need at least Sh50 million to erect a strong wall to protect further sand erosion by the high tides from the ocean due to climate change. (PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/ STANDARD)

Jumba Ruins, one of Coast region's historical sites, risks destruction through erosion by rising sea water levels in the Indian Ocean.

Located 20 kilometres north of Mombasa near Mtwapa Creek in Kilifi, Jumba Ruins is an abandoned Swahili settlement built on the Indian Ocean.

National Museums of Kenya (NMK) said the remains of the small Swahili town, which was deserted over 500 years ago, will be swallowed by the ravaging ocean waters if no remedial or restorative action is initiated urgently.

There are dozens of ancient Swahili, Persian and Portuguese settlements in Coast including Fort Jesus in Mombasa, which experts have warned are threatened by sea water erosion. Most of them were abandoned to fall into ruin for unknown reasons but historians and paleontologists suspect disease, depletion of water sources and war as possible causes.

NMK Director of Antiquities, Sites and Monuments  Purity Kiura said heavy water erosion had chipped into the sides of a mosque by the sea, leaving it heavily exposed to high water tides.

"We are experiencing heavy erosion in most of the coastal sites and monuments, which incidentally are located within very close proximity to the beach," she said.

Kiura, who was accompanied by the NMK assistant Director in charge of Coast region Athman Hussein said they would require Sh50 million to put up a wall that will prevent sea water from washing out the monument.

According to Jumba Ruins curator Hashim Hinzano, archeological evidence within the rural metropolis indicates that Jumba Ruins first started around the 14th century.

NMK, Kiura added, is faced with a daunting task of renovating a number of Coastal sites and monuments, which are also facing imminent collapse as a result of climate change.