MOMBASA GARBAGE
People of Mombasa, do you so love filth?
Sunny Bindra
Can someone tell me why Mombasa needs to be so filthy? Why there are mounds of uncollected rubbish on every roadside; why plastic refuse marks every landscape; why every beach is full of uncollected debris?
What does it take to keep a place clean? It does not require massive funding; does not need advanced equipment and technology; does not demand complex project plans. It just requires a mindset that detests filth
And that, I’m afraid, is what Mombasa has forgotten. It is easy to blame this on leadership, and Mombasa has often contributed handsomely to the worldwide pantheon of ridiculous and incompetent leaders.
It beggars belief, nonetheless, that even those comedians who purport to lead that historic town these days can drive past the piles of rubbish everywhere and not feel an iota of shame.
But people of Mombasa, where are you in all this squalor? You sit and watch that garbage grow, and you do nothing? You don’t demand better from your leaders? You don’t even clean up the fronts of your own homes?
You don’t take matters into your own hands? Why don’t you collect that garbage and deposit it smack outside the council offices every day until something is done?
But why would you do that when you seem to walk happily among the detritus every day without flinching? When anti-fungal paint and repairing broken windows seem to be alien concepts to even the most well-heeled among you?
Mombasa is letting itself down. Nairobi, too, has its filthy side and world-class slums. But Nairobi has not descended to the point where garbage marks the entrance to our international airport; dots our major highways; or litters even our posh suburbs. Mombasa has a different order-of-magnitude problem.
This is heartbreaking to see, but it has real consequences. Mombasa’s fame these days is as a town that wallows in the drug trade. It is crippled by traffic jams worse than Nairobi’s, as a small island with ancient roads ignores the problem of ever-increasing vehicles
repeat, it hurts me to write this. I am not mocking Mombasa, but asking those who live in it and love it to stand up for themselves. Those of you who can still see straight need to take a hard look at what your town is today compared to what it once was.
The best symbolic (and practical) thing you can do is to walk outside after reading this and organise a few hands to pick up that needless rubbish outside your door.
Sunny Bindra’s new book, ‘The Peculiar Kenyan’, is now on sale. www.sunwords.com
Sunny Bindra
Can someone tell me why Mombasa needs to be so filthy? Why there are mounds of uncollected rubbish on every roadside; why plastic refuse marks every landscape; why every beach is full of uncollected debris?
What does it take to keep a place clean? It does not require massive funding; does not need advanced equipment and technology; does not demand complex project plans. It just requires a mindset that detests filth
And that, I’m afraid, is what Mombasa has forgotten. It is easy to blame this on leadership, and Mombasa has often contributed handsomely to the worldwide pantheon of ridiculous and incompetent leaders.
It beggars belief, nonetheless, that even those comedians who purport to lead that historic town these days can drive past the piles of rubbish everywhere and not feel an iota of shame.
But people of Mombasa, where are you in all this squalor? You sit and watch that garbage grow, and you do nothing? You don’t demand better from your leaders? You don’t even clean up the fronts of your own homes?
You don’t take matters into your own hands? Why don’t you collect that garbage and deposit it smack outside the council offices every day until something is done?
But why would you do that when you seem to walk happily among the detritus every day without flinching? When anti-fungal paint and repairing broken windows seem to be alien concepts to even the most well-heeled among you?
Mombasa is letting itself down. Nairobi, too, has its filthy side and world-class slums. But Nairobi has not descended to the point where garbage marks the entrance to our international airport; dots our major highways; or litters even our posh suburbs. Mombasa has a different order-of-magnitude problem.
This is heartbreaking to see, but it has real consequences. Mombasa’s fame these days is as a town that wallows in the drug trade. It is crippled by traffic jams worse than Nairobi’s, as a small island with ancient roads ignores the problem of ever-increasing vehicles
repeat, it hurts me to write this. I am not mocking Mombasa, but asking those who live in it and love it to stand up for themselves. Those of you who can still see straight need to take a hard look at what your town is today compared to what it once was.
The best symbolic (and practical) thing you can do is to walk outside after reading this and organise a few hands to pick up that needless rubbish outside your door.
Sunny Bindra’s new book, ‘The Peculiar Kenyan’, is now on sale. www.sunwords.com
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Markinon markert
Are you going toVote for garbage? Who exactly is in charge of our dreams? And for how long are we going to accept this? we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Mombasa is a gutter. Will it get better?
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Mombasa is a gutter. Will it get better?
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Do not vote for these liars
This man is sleeping on his job
AHMED MOHDHAR MAYOR OF
MOMBASA
MOMBASA