Barely a month after the Mtongwe ferry pantoon was relaunched by President Uhuru Kenyatta, the entire Sh305 million Mtongwe channel’s jetty and pontoon collapsed into the Indian ocean and is now considered a dead project.
This morning, shocked members of the public observed the pantoon that is used to dock at Mtongwe channel laid by the waterside after it was current away by strong currents from ocean. The waves were reportedly caused by a pilot boat that was crossing on its way to the port at around 4am local time.
According to sources at the scene, the disaster was averted because the incident happened in the early hours of the morning where normal ferrying services had not resumed.
Up to four thousand people are now expected to be deprived of its services as the repair works are expected to take up to a week.
The question that lingers into the minds of many is how such a glorified project by the Jubilee government and intended to serve locals in the longer term would collapse barely a month after its relaunch.
Speculation is rife that the equipment was built with poor workmanship to benefit Jubilee tenderprenuers without expert consultation from marine engineers. Even worse, the lives of thousands of users of the ferry was put at risk and it is only by a stroke of luck that the equipment collapsed off-peak hours.
