Fishermen in Lamu County have now been pushed into adopting unorthodox means of accessing major markets in Malindi and Mombasa Counties with road transport made impossible by floods.
For the past three weeks, transport along the Lamu-Witu-Garsen route has been disrupted by floods which have cut off the Gamba section of the road.
This has made it difficult for cargo transporters to reach the Mokowe depot to either deliver commodities to Lamu or ferry products out of the county.
In a classic case of going back to the basics, the fisher folk are now relying on boats and dhows to move their products.
The Nation has established that fishermen from as far as Kiunga in the Kenya-Somalia border, Kiwayu, Mkokoni, Pate, Mtangawanda, and Lamu Island, which are the region's fishing hubs, have been forced to spend nights in the Indian Ocean while ferrying fish consignment to Ngomeni in Kilifi County before connecting their journey on road to Malindi and Mombasa to sell the fish.
Lamu's main fish market is Malindi in Kilifi County and Marikiti in Mombasa, but since the road was cut off at Gamba, fish dealers, who usually transport the commodities in lorries, have not been able to come to Lamu's Mokowe Jetty, the main depot to collect the cargo.
Ali Omar, the fishermen’s spokesperson, said instead of waiting for the resumption of road transport, they opted to use water transport to prevent further losses of their daily catch.
"At first, we incurred many losses as our fish went bad due to lack of transport. We have dealers from Mombasa and Malindi who always come by road daily to ferry fish to the market. But since road transport is paralyzed owing to the floods, we've opted to use water transport. Although expensive at least we get to save something," said Mr Omar.
Hassan Mzee, a renowned fisherman in Lamu, called on the government, through the Kenya Highways Authority (KeNHA), to fast-track repair of the Gamba section destroyed by floods to pave the way for road transport to be resumed.
"Currently, it's easier to use water transport from Lamu to Ngomeni and Malindi rather than using the road as you'll be required to hire a boat at Gamba to take you across the flooded section. I am appealing to the State through KeNHA to consider repairing the destroyed section," said Mr Mzee.
Since the floods started, there has already been a shortage of supplies in Lamu, including foodstuff and fuel, a situation that worries many residents.
Meanwhile, residents of Lamu's Old Town are demanding a fresh audit of buildings to avert possible collapse during the heavy rains witnessed across the country.
Residents have also expressed worry that the current heavy rains are endangering their lives inside the old structures.
They have called on the county government to consider conducting fresh inspections of all buildings and ensure those that will be found to be structurally unsound are marked for renovation or demolition.
Simeon Mburu, a resident, said it is unfortunate to see landlords going about their duties without carrying out any form of maintenance on their buildings.
"We want to see our landlords taking it upon themselves to frequently repair and maintain their buildings. We fear these old buildings might collapse and kill us with the ongoing rains. Something needs to be done urgently," said Mr Mburu.
