Amu Island residents have voiced their dismay over the Lamu Municipality’s failure to set-up public toilets within the County’s main archipelago and tourist hub, despite huge public demand.
Speaking during a public baraza hosted by Muslims for Human Rights and the County Government held in the Amu Island Huduma Centre building, Lamu Tourist Association (LTA) Chairman, Ghalib Alwy, stated that the Lamu municipality has failed in its urban development mandate to address setting up the much needed public amenity within the Lamu Old Town area.
“Residents and tourists alike usually have to put up and make do with ‘makeshift arrangements’ and relieve themselves sometimes uncomfortably into the ocean,” he said.
He decried that it is usually embarrassing, especially for tour guides to tell their client tourists that they’ll have to plead with a gracious hotelier, to allow them to use their facilities which he said pointed to the County Government’s failure to adequately plan for its residents and visitors alike.
“The County Municipality needs to urgently address the lack of public toilets within Lamu, especially with the upcoming calendar of festival events coming up later this year,” he said.
Alwy further added that the lack of public toilets also affects those travelling long distances to Faza, Pate, Ndau and Kizingitini, noting that women are usually the most affected by the lack of a public toilet and usually have to uncomfortably find relief in a corridor or within the open sewage lines that lead up to the ocean.
Sentiments echoed by Public Boat Captain, Abdulrahman Mohdar, stated that long distance travelers are usually hard hit, due to the lack of facilities, especially at night when most hotels are closed.
Lamu Municipality Chief Officer, Alex Jimbi, stated that the County Government had last year in conjunction with SUED Kenya to work on an urban development and economic plan to urbanize Lamu Old Town.
“The Lamu County Government is working with donors to come up with an urban rehabilitation plan aimed at improving the Lamu Old Town, to ensure that it has a working drainage, sewage and water system that is used by everyone within the Island,” the Chief Officer said.
Jimbi also stated that there are plans to upgrade the island’s urban plan with the establishment of public toilets being among the initiatives proposed to be implemented through a public private partnership model.
Muslims for Human Rights Programme Officer, Mohammed Skanda, reiterated the need for the County Government to install public amenities that would serve Lamu residents once the five year CIDP III is adopted.