Opening up South Coast’s new frontiers

With plans to build a road connecting Mombasa island to the South Coast at an advanced stage, a lot of changes and anxiety are abound in the areas where the 22km road will pass, writes JECKONIA OTIENO

This will be a major development shift in the South Coast mainly Kwale County, since the road is expected to open up areas that have hitherto remained under-developed.?

Further, the road is expected to ease pressure on Mombasa Island which acts as a transit hub among other major functions it serves along the coast and in Kenya as a whole.

?The road connecting the island to the south through Dongo Kundu is expected to bring with it mixed fortunes to both Mombasa and Kwale counties.

?Mama Kadzo Mwatela is in her shamba just beside her mud-walled, grass thatched house overlooking the ocean. She is, however, unsure of what the road will mean because part the piece of land on which she lives and farms is going to be used in the multi-billion shilling project expected to ease the pressure on the two ferry service points — Likoni and Mtongwe.

?Mwatela says that for sure the residents have heard about the construction but not much about what it portends for them because seemingly the Government is quiet about the details, at least according to the locals.

?She says, “A list has been made but we do not know whether it is about compensation or forceful eviction because we have not been told much about the project.”

?Together with her children, she sits unsure of the next course of action. Mwatela insists that for them to move, they must be paid because this is their livelihood.?

Poisoned chalice?

Nevertheless, Mwatela is hopeful that an amicable resettlement programme can be worked out. This way, the road will be a boon for the area residents. The area has remained under-developed despite the visible development on the other side of the channel separating the two areas. They are glaringly, economically worlds apart.

?Though Mwatela, who has lived at Dongo Kundu for 23 years, can just see Mombasa yonder, she has to go round all the way to Likoni on the rough road before she can get to the highway, risking her life on a motorbike just like many other locals of Dongo Kundu. But despite the anxiety, the road is concerning, this is expected to change.

?Not far from Mwatela’s homestead is Chizi Mazera’s house. Like Mwatela, she also does not know much about the proposed road but she hopes that the Government will play fair if there is need for resettlement.

?“We are unsure of what might happen but we are afraid that if we are to be moved, then we will lose out because we will have no place or person to turn to,” laments a concerned Mazera.

?The situation is, however, complicated by the mixed information that has been reaching people on the ground with some claiming that they have heard that the money that was supposed to build the link bridge and the road has been diverted to the construction of the Lamu Port.

?At the Likoni Ferry crossing, concerns are growing that some economic activities are bound to die with the building of the new road. Among the concerned parties are the matatu operators who enjoy brisk business as hundreds of thousands of people use the ferry everyday.

Yusuf Abdalla, a matatu driver plying the Magongoni-Likoni Ferry route says that tough times lie ahead for those like him in the industry. He notes that many people will opt for the road because they see crossing through the ferry as a waste of time.

?He argues that with the ferry, matatus have a constant flow of customers and a diversion will only cut the steady flow of money into the thriving matatu business.

Tough times

?Abdalla observes, “Imagine all the people we have as customers coming from as far as the southern border – and Tanzania - who have to pass through here to conduct business in town or travel to other areas like the north Coast and mainland Kenya.”

?His sentiments are echoed across Likoni where there are vehicles that ply routes such as Lunga Lunga, Mtongwe, Likoni, Ukunda and Kwale. These operators fear that most people will use the road hence diminish their returns.

?There are those who, however, argue that despite the construction of the road, the ferry services would not be affected much.

Hassan Musa, the managing director of the Kenya Ferry Services says that the building of the road might not affect much the ferry services because he projects that the traffic can only grow rather than diminish.

?Musa argues that most people see the ferry as a cheaper and more reliable option to get to the CBD. He questions why anybody would want to travel an extra 22 kilometres to get to town through Miritini and Makupa causeway which is — in most cases — jam-packed.

?“In 2010, the number of people using the ferry was 170,000 per day but it has increased to 300,000, so before the road is complete then we expect to see more people using the service and even when the road is complete,” notes Musa.

?The construction of the road is bound to change the equation and numbers especially of vehicular traffic into the island of Mombasa. Currently, Mombasa acts as a central point of travel where all vehicles connecting from north Coast or south Coast have to pass through it as there is no bypass. The same applies to vehicles coming from other parts of Kenya like Nairobi to the Coast. ?Augustine Masinde who is the director of physical planning in the Ministry of Lands thinks the new road across the channel through Dongo Kundu is bound to shift the way Mombasa town operates — for the better.

Masinde argues that there are many people and vehicles who due to lack of any other option to avoid the island, have to contend with the ever present traffic snarl-ups into and out of the island. He, therefore, sees that the road will ease pressure on the ferry services.

?“It is, for example, clear that right now if people want to come from Nairobi to Kwale with absolutely no business in town, then they have to pass through Mombasa island, which results into waste of precious time.”

?According to Masinde, no one would leave a road that circumvents the island to go and wait to cross at the ferry if they can have a through pass. He notes that travelling from Malindi to Kwale will no longer require anybody to pass through the ferry because they will instead use the road through Kaloleni to Mazeras, across the channel to Dongo Kundu and finally to the south.

?The whole aspect of the road is to decongest Mombasa as all the traffic through Mombasa have turned the Makupa causeway into a 24-hour snarl up that has slowed down Mombasa’s economic prospects.

?The Moi International Airport, situated out of the island, is also bound to benefit from the construction of the road. Many goods can be dispatched to their intended destinations without the extra delay that the congestion of Mombasa causes.

?Apart from the decongestion and easing of traffic in Mombasa, the areas where the road will traverse are expected to have commercial zones that will shift the economic balance from where it is currently concentrated in the city centre to other adjacent areas.

?A free port development project around Dongo Kundu is expected to unleash the potential of the area, which is made of numerous touristic ridges and cliffs. This, experts hope, could  change the development of this coastal area as the country seeks to achieve impetus to the achievement of Vision 2030.