MOMBASA. A coastal city located in Kenya along the Western Indian Ocean Front. It is home to communities from all around Kenya and the coastal natives as well. Mombasa boasts of its sandy beaches, large number of beach hotels and a rich culture and heritage that goes back centuries. For tourists ( both domestic and international) it is a perfect destination to relax and unwind during vacations or on the holidays. It is also a popular honeymoon destination.
However behind all the glitz and glamor that is Mombasa, the city has another side that is unknown to none other than the residents until recently. A side that is now resulting in fatal consequences and costing the relevant stake holders a lot of money in trying to contain it. That particular side is garbage. The garbage nightmare in Mombasa, however new it might appear to some people is something that has accumulated over the years and it has now reached its tipping point.
Being a resident of Mombasa since the late 90's I have seen first hand how the garbage menace has grown from a small problem that could easily be overlooked to the gigantic problem that it is today. I remember seeing a paper bag here, a plastic bottle there and a sweet wrapper elsewhere. During that time no one probably thought it was a big deal so no one  said a word or even took to the streets protesting about it.
As the years progressed, select sites started cropping up where people would just dump garbage without any second thoughts. Mind you, these were not designated dumping sites. This still did not raise any alarms.
Nearly twenty years down the line, this has become one of the biggest problems that Mombasa is facing. The amount of garbage that has accumulated over the years is now causing a myriad of problems with some of those problems resulting in loss of lives.
The garbage sites especially the undesignated ones have provided breeding grounds for microbes (bacteria and fungus) and mosquitoes. These bacteria include Vibrio cholerae which is responsible for causing cholera. As many know there is a cholera outbreak in Mombasa. When it rains, the same garbage sites provide breeding sites for mosquitoes. Mosquitoes transmit a number of diseases to humans including Malaria, Dengue fever and Chikungunya. Malaria and dengue fever have the highest death rates among these mosquito transmitted diseases. The symptoms that come with these diseases are not a ride in the park either. Trust me, having suffered from malaria and dengue fever, I know first hand how it feels like.
Chikungunya is the most recent mosquito transmitted disease to terrorize this beautiful coastal city. The disease is caused by the chikungunya virus ans is usually accompanied by fever, joint pain, headache, muscle pain, joint swelling and a rash. although the disease doesn't last long ( one week) and has a low death rate (1 in 1000), it has been known to render its victims 'partially lame' for a few days.
These problems have caused the relevant stakeholders a lot of money try to either contain or eliminate them. In my honest opinion, these are problems that could have been avoided had proper measures for garbage disposal been put in place from the beginning. As the saying goes prevention is better then cure.
However it is not too late, the situation can still be salvaged. Residents should be educated on the importance of proper garbage disposal. The education should also include letting them know the consequences of improper disposal of  garbage. Being recipients of these consequences I believe it will not take much convincing. Systems can also be put in place to ensure that there are proper channels to dispose garbage all the way from the grass root level. The knowledge should also be passed down to the younger generations so that the culture of cleanliness is maintained.
With these systems in place the spread and outbreak of the said diseases will be reduced if not eliminated. This in turn will save on the money that is used to deal with emergency containment and treatment in case of an outbreak of a disease.
When all is said and done, we should remember that Cleanliness is next to Godliness.