Weight row paralyses transport at Coast

By Ernest Ndunda

Mombasa, Kenya: A traffic jam stretching to about 25km long on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway entered its sixth day on Sunday causing immense chaos threatening to stall the coastal city’s economy.

The snarl-up starts at Miritini in Mombasa stretching to the Mariakani Weigh Bridge with drivers taking more than 11 hours for a journey that normally lasts 40 minutes.

Traffic Police Commandant for Coast Joshua Omukata blamed the mayhem on a conflict between transporters and officials of the Kenya National Highway Authority (KeNHA) manning the weighbridge over how to compute the weight and charges for all vehicles passing through this area.

“There is a dispute between the transporters and the people at the weighbridge and some of the transporters have withdrawn their vehicles,” said Omukata who also disclosed that the problem has been exacerbated by an accident near the weighbridge.

This, compounded by what motorists say is incompetence by traffic officers and narrowness of the road stretch, has caused the snarl up which started on Tuesday.

Transporters have been protesting against alleged faulty reading of weight at the Mariakani weighbridge while KeNHA insists the vehicles are overloaded.

The truck operators have also opposed weighing of vehicles at the weighbridges based on axle load limits claiming loose cargo usually moves when the vehicle is in motion on sloppy roads and a lot of it settles on certain axles.

Kenya Transport Association (KTA) recently challenged KeNHA on weighing trucks based on axles but lost the case leading to reintroduction of the controversial weighbridges.

KTA Chief Executive Officer Ms Jane Njeru claims the weighbridges are not well calibrated and were indicating different weights along the northern corridor. Truck operators also claim weighbridge operators have been demanding bribes.

Overwhelmed

Traffic officers and other officials at the weighbridge were overwhelmed by the commotion and the 77 (military) Battalion based in Mariakani had to step in to give a hand.

Also not spared were public service vehicles and buses heading to Mombasa from Nairobi.

“I left Mombasa at 3am today (Sunday) and have managed to reach at the Weighbridge at 1 O’clock taking close to 11 hours for a journey, which takes me 40 minutes,” Said Raphael Mutiso, one of the stranded drivers.

“The new Minister for Transport needs to move in fast and ensure the Mariakani Weighbridge is re-located to an alternative site where it would not interfere with the smooth flow of traffic from Mombasa past Mariakani,” said Mutiso.