Malindi town, a renowned beach paradise risks losing its luster and credibility following massive dumping of waste along the marine park road.
The road is the gateway to Malindi marine national park which attracts thousands of tourists each year.
It is also home to many international celebrities including Italian Billionaire Flavio Briatore a former formula one boss, Kenyan football superstar MacDonald Mariga and attracts international celebrities such as Naomi Campbell, among other top government personalities and investors.
The reckless waste which has become a menace is dumped from the main junction leading to the marine park and consists of plastics, bottles and even chemicals.
To make matters worse there is a ‘dumpsite’ created by locals just 50 meters directly opposite the marine park which is also smelling and is along a road which leads to private villas used by tourists visiting the park.
Journalists came face to face with the problem during a clean up exercise organized by the stakeholders in Malindi.
Freddie De Curatolo, the spokesman of the Italian community in Malindi termed the problem as disgusting and negatively affecting tourism.
He said it was unacceptable for people to be allowed to dump waste near the entrance of the Malindi marine national park which is a paradise and loved by many.
“We are just 50 meters from the paradise, the tourist attraction of Malindi. The marine park has become a real shame because this bush of waste is just near to the Briatore heaven,’’ he said.
Curatolo said the menace is just within the casuarina smart villas and the beautiful beach of Malindi on the Kenyan coast.
He said the solid waste management act that is in place must be enforced to prevent such shameful and reckless dumping of waste that poses a threat to the environment or else the situation will worsen.
At the ‘dumpsite’ one could easily see plastics thrown on trees, pampers, plastic waste and all over the bush.
It’s even difficult to clean the waste unless the bush is completely cleared due to the risk of snakebites and thorns.
Sabina Vivaldi an investor also expressed concern about the manner in which people were dumping wastes at the gateway to the marine park.
She said the area is full of residential residences and multi-billion investments that attracts tourists due to the proximity to the national park.
“We would really ask for reinforcement of the waste management laws to ensure people are not allowed to dump waste anywhere,’’ she said.
Vivaldi said people must be responsible for their garbage so as to make the area clean and green.
The investor who is one of the founder members of Progressive welfare Association of Malindi that is in the forefront of cleaning up Malindi every second week of the month called for authorities to take action so as to stop the menace.
“Here we have plastics, pool chemicals and foam that is dumped along the road leading to the marine park,” she said.