Page 16 - DMEA Week 31 2021

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

has been swept downstream to these two these islands because most of the time the said Lamu island has for decades witnessed
channels and that’s why they have become tide is low and we can’t move around as partial flooding during high tide but that the
too shallow. The more the ocean floor rises, much as we would. Previously, the trips were water rarely reached residential and business
the shallower they become and that’s a unlimited. Let them dredge them up so they areas as it is now.
challenge to navigation,†said Awadh. attain the necessary depth,†said Vae. He says the current situation implies that
He called on the Kenya Ports Authority- Lamu Old Town has in recent years the seafloor has risen and cannot hold much
KPA, the Kenya Maritime Authority-KMA also witnessed unusual flooding caused by water hence the overflow and subsequent
and other concerned bodies to have the overflow from the Indian Ocean during flooding.
channels dredged so as to remove the excess annual tidal waves. The Mkanda channel was last dredged in
soil and other residue causing the waterbed The situation always leaves homes, shops 1997 by the US Navy and has been in perfect
to rise. and streets submerged for days on end. condition ever since.
Khaldun Vae, an investor in the Lamu The situation has also been blamed on Lamu town has over 5,000 boats with at
water transport sector says the situation limits the dredging at the Lamu port site which least 99% of movement done via sea.
shippers in terms of the number of trips one has dangerously lifted the ocean bed causing THE STAR
makes due to the inconsistent tidal levels. unstable water levels.
“We can only make a single trip across Conservationist Abdulswamad Basheikh

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