The massive burning of toxic wastes around Casuarina area in Malindi is now a threat to the residents. One of the risks involved is the contaminating of diseases following massive burning of toxic substances at the main dumpsite in the area.
Some of the residents interviewed claim that the dumpsite which is close to the posh casuarina area and Muyeye area within the resort town are chocked with the toxic smoke which is burnt day and night.
Already there are some residents who have had chest problems, bronchitis, severe headaches due to the smoke that is caused by the burning of plastic and other toxic substances.
Last December National Environmental Management Authority issued a notice to the county government of Kilifi to take action to prevent the burning of the toxic substances but to date nothing has been done.
The Malindi municipality also received Sh230 million from the World Bank (WB) and part of it was to be used to establish a recycling plant but it’s yet to be implemented to date.
One of the Malindi residents, Erena Goodwin lived in Malindi since the beginning of the 70s said the situation has affected her as the dumpsite is at the heart of the resort city.
“I am suffering from throat and lung damage and my son is asthmatic. My staffs are all deeply affected with head pains and chest pains and we feel we need to be a voice also for the voiceless who live in the vicinity,” she said during an interview.
She said that Muyeye village which is a highly populated settlement area with thousands of people is also among the areas affected by the toxic smoke from the dumpsite.
She said when there was lockdown last year due to the Covid 19 pandemic children were at home and everyone could not breathe properly due to the dumpsite smoke.
“Currently, it’s like the residents were living in a war zone of toxic fumes and smoke in the watchful eyes of the authority who are doing nothing to address the problem,” she said.
Goodwin said the dumpsite was established in 1972 a time when Malindi was considered a small village but now it is a city.
“In the last 50 years we have grown 10 times and we are supposed to be a tourist destination, the dumpsite is now producing between 50 to 80 tones of waste per day but nothing has changed, this has become a major health hazard,” she said.
She appealed for help to address the problem which is affecting thousands of people in the entire resort city of Malindi.
Goodwin who stays four kilometers from the dumpsite said the situation is normally worse when the wind blows from the South as it spreads to the area highly populated by luxurious houses to the neighboring Muyeye village.
Also affected she said was Mayungu and Jacaranda and all the beaches along the area where the toxic smoke and fumes can be felt.
“It is time that the dumpsite was relocated as there is a bypass that will connect to Malindi and Watamu that will be ready soon and shall be more dangerous if action is not taken,” she said.
“It’s a dumpsite that cannot cater for the large quantities of waste that is being produced on daily basis and it’s on solid coral we need to have a dumpsite that will be out of town where we can do landfilling and where we can do proper recycling methods to help the environment,” she added.
Lissa Reuben who has been living in Malindi for the last 20 years said they really need help to get rid of the dumpsite because it is a major health hazard.
“We need to look after people’s health many people are suffering within a very large area it’s absolutely incredible that we are a stone through from the marine park which is a biosphere and this is allowed to go on,” she said.
Reuben said currently stakeholders are trying to attract tourism again and bring back Malindi to a green town yet there was a silent killer caused by the dumpsite that is a major health hazard.
She said they are told by the government to wear masks because of Covid-19, stay in houses but the dumpsite is creating more suffering than the pandemic.
“I have headaches, sore throats I don’t realize in the morning but just wake up and find I have no energy I can’t move, “she said.
Wilson Macharia a resident Muyeye who has been working in casuarina for the last 12 years said the toxic smoke has affected his breathing system.
He said every time he goes to the hospital, he is diagnosed with something related to the breathing system which is not connected to his family.
“It has been a norm that every rainy or windy season if I go to the hospital, I have to be diagnosed with something related to the breathing system which Ima hundred percent sure that it occurs because of the smoke bring from the dumpsite,” she said.
Others who spoke included Cagen Hugman who has lived in Malindi since 2003, Jackson Mwakazi resident Muyeye and Gelmeck Vay a tourist from South Africa who all called on the authorities to take action quickly.
National Environmental Management Authority Director in charge of Kilifi County, George Oyoo said they issued a notice to the county government but have not acted to date.
He said the county government has been continuously ignoring their directives and as NEMA they cannot move to court due to the presidential directives issued.
Oyoo said there is a team that is on the ground that will come up with a report that shall be forwarded to the director-general to follow up further.
