Residents lament over blocked access to beaches

Real Estate

Patrick Beja

At the Coast, there has been growing concern over residents being denied access to the beaches for various reasons.

Initially, there were many routes to the shinny sandy beaches in both north and south Coast, but many are now out of bounds for the public.

The taste for beach plots by developers seeking to have good view of the blue waters of the Indian Ocean and security reasons have been cited for the current limited routes to the sea.

Wealthy homeowners at the Coast want privacy and some have gone ahead to construct walls blocking the public routes.

Now Coast residents and the fishing community are pushing the local authorities to reopen the routes. The most affected has been the coastline along the Nyali-Shanzu area and the Diani beach zone.

Jomo Kenyatta public beach and Mama Ngina Drive are, therefore, jammed on weekends and during public holidays. The situation is similar in the south Coast where residents also have a limited access to the sea.

And even when locals and tourists manage to access some of these restricted beaches, they are barred from getting too close to the ones fronting hotels, cottages and private homes.

Although intended as security measures by the resorts, the restrictions limit free movement of the public.

Security

Ali Shee, a Mombasa resident and regular beach visitor, complains that the level of restriction to the beaches has been too much and must be addressed.

Shee who loves swimming and strolling on the clean beaches also wants police to beef up security and monitor some youth suspected to be engaging in crime.

"We want local authorities to clear beach access roads and the police to flush out youth who pose a security threat to those who visit the few remaining beach sites," Shee says.

The Coast Business Forum (CBF), a group of several associations with members engaged in various businesses including tourism, has also voiced their concerns over the beaches.

Demolitions

The forum chaired by John Cleave recently noted, "At the moment, not all beach access roads are available."

However, the forum noted that while private developers had encroached on some beach access roads, others were closed by the local authority for security reasons.

The forum demanded that the council opens up the sea access routes and demolish all developments along them.

In 2006, there was tension in Mombasa when the then District Commissioner Mohamed Maalim ordered walls and structures pulled down to open up blocked beach access roads.

The operation on both north and south of the larger Mombasa district was short-lived as homeowners along the beach resisted.

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