Mombasa discharges raw sewage and industrial waste into ocean

By Phillip Mwakio

Marine scientists have identified Mombasa as a major contributor to pollution in the Indian Ocean.

The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute says the town discharges raw sewage, domestic garbage and industrial waste into the ocean.

Other pollutants are oil spills, which are, however, rarely reported owing to the magnitude of the consequences.

Land-based pollution

The institute’s Mombasa Centre Director Daniel Munga told The Standard that outside Mombasa Municipality, land-based pollution into the ocean has been reported in at Sabaki, near Malindi.

Here, heavy sedimentation has led to accretion (a situation where new land mass, which is not stable, forms).

Director Johnstone Kazungu told a recent stakeholders meeting on marine contamination that combined forces of population growth and economic development had placed corresponding pressures on the world’s oceans.

"The productive and regenerative capacity of the oceans are increasingly threatened by the introduction of pollutants, over utilisation of marine resources, habitat destruction and dramatic coastal development," he said.

Data from recent beach clean-up exercises conducted by environmental groups in and around Mombasa have revealed shocking statistics on pollution.

Litter collected included surgical syringes, condoms, plastics and glass bottles.

Dr Kazungu says marine pollution problems, like solutions to it, transcend the ability of any one institution or country.

"Just like many other countries, Kenya faces the challenges of maintaining strong economic growth while preserving the environment," Kazungu said.

Pollution has been blamed on reduced fish stocks in the Indian Ocean besides renewed dangers to the marine ecosystem.

Vital features such as the reef system has also been under threats from toxics. Pollution in many cosatal towns have been largely blamed on poor systems of managing wastes by local authorities and other agencies tasked with city and municipal garbage and sewage management.