MOMBASA fish landing sites

More than 30 fish landing sites in Mombasa county have been grabbed, a report by the Haki Yetu Organisationindicates.The reportwas presented to the Mombasa Assembly Agriculture  Committee on Friday. In the report committee chairman and Mikindani MCA Duncan Onyango said they will name and shame the grabbers in

the assembly on Thursday.

He said landing sites have been grabbed by powerful people in and outside
the county. The report, despite being near the ocean, Mombasa only provides six per cent of the fish in the Kenyan market. It says the county has the potential to provide more than 50

per cent of the fish requirement. According to the report, there are 50 landing sites in the county, 14 of which are gazetted and the rest are awaiting formal recognition. “Sadly, none of the sites, gazetted or otherwise, has a title deed or any form of documentation,” reads the report in part. It says rogue land officials and employees of the defunct Mombasa Municipal Council took advantage of the vacuum and took illegal possession of the sites. The report titled ‘Nowhere To Land’ was prepared in February. 

Haki Yetuboss Fr Gabriel Dolan told the Star on Saturday, the county government needs to invest m ore in fishing.

“There is also no investment in fishing. We are encouraging them (county government) torepossess the grabbed sites,” he said. Haki Yetu programme coordinator Sebastian Menza said thewhole Coast region, with a coastline that stretches more than 800km, comes third, producing just more than 8,000 tonnes of fish annually. Lake Victoria leads in fish production with  more than 110,000 tonnes a year, while fish ponds, most of which are in Central Kenya produces 20,000 tonnes.

“Mariculture (sea fishing) is yet to be fully exploited, compared to freshwater aquaculture. Government-funded
Economic Stimulus Programme saw fresh water fish production grow by 10 per cent
between 2000 and 2010. Fish farming in the ocean was ignored,” Menza said.

There is only one cold storage in the county, which is in Old Town. The only fish  market in Mombasa is in Likoni.

Ref:- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/30-mombasa-landing-sites-grabbed-haki#sthash.6kezer4d.dpuf

MOMBASA, KENYA: A Mombasa-based civil society organisation has called for the repossession of grabbed or blocked fish landing sites in Mombasa county.
In its latest report complied in February but released in Mombasa on Monday, Haki Yetu Organisation which is associated with the Bangladesh Catholic Church Parish in Mombasa, listed 51 fish landing sites which it says have been grabbed or are in danger of being acquired by the speculators.
The report indicates that 18 sites were grabbed by individuals and institutions while more than 30 sites have not been gazetted and hence exposed to grabbers.
The report urges the National Land Commission (NLC) and Mombasa county government to carry out a survey and ensure all landing sites are issued with title deeds in the name of registered Beach Management Units (BMUs). It also calls for immediate revocation of titles of the grabbed sites.
The report has been released by the Haki Yetu director and priest in charge of the Bangladesh parish Father Gabriel Dolan.
Father Dolan notes that the coast region annual catch stands only at five percent of the 174,000 metric tonnes of fish produced in the country because of neglect of the coastal fisheries and corruption.
"The report shows that at the heart of unproductivity is corruption. Fishermen have seen their landing sites disappear one by one to hotels, industries, churches, beach plots and foreigners," Father Dolan noted.
The report is titled "Nowhere to land: The case of grabbed, inaccessible and neglected fish landing sites in Mombasa county."
It says that at the Kibarani landing site, Kenya Railways plot number VMN/508 under a 99-year lease with effect from January 1 1966 has been subdivided and transferred to a private company for Sh30 million.
However the report notes that files for various landing sites are missing at the land offices.
Ref:http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/article/2000162789/report-51-fish-landing-sites-in-mombasa-grabbed

marine kenya: Lake Victoria Accident

marine kenya: Lake Victoria Accident: Lake Victoria Accident: At Least 30 Feared injured After Boat Capsizes Near Remba Island, Kenya heading to Sori.   Two children died w...

Lake Victoria Accident

Lake Victoria Accident: At Least 30 Feared injured After Boat Capsizes Near Remba Island, Kenya heading to Sori.

 

Two children died when a passenger boat capsized after colliding with a fishing vessel in Lake Victoria in western Kenya.

A local official said fishermen responding to distress calls had rescued 21 of the 23 people on board the passenger boat and recovered the children's bodies.

There were no casualties on the fishing vessel, which also capsized.

The accident happened at about 02:00 on Wednesday morning (Tuesday 23:00 GMT).

A Kenya Red Cross team has been helping in the rescue effort and giving first aid to survivors.

Fishing boats are often to be found on Lake Victoria in the small hours because the waters are calm at that time, Kenyan media say.

Earlier reports had suggested the passenger boat was carrying 200 people.

But a local government official downgraded that figure to 23, and this was confirmed by a boat owner who responded to the distress calls.Both boats have now been recovered from the lake.

At least 30 people are feared dead after a boat carrying 200 passengers capsized early Wednesday in Lake Victoria near Remba Island, Kenya. In this photo, dated March 9, 2009, fishing boats move past the wreckage of an Ilyushin I-76 cargo aircraft that crashed into Lake Victoria shortly after taking off from Entebbe International Airport, 26 miles south of Uganda's capital Kampala.

Update as of 4 a.m. EDT: A boat that capsized in Lake Victoria was carrying 24 passengers and not 200, Capital FM Kenya, a local news network, reported citing an official. Two children died in the accident, according to reports.

“The bodies of the two children aged four and two years have been retrieved. The passenger boat was carrying 24 people while the fishing boat had four fishermen on board. Most of the passengers had life jackets and that is what helped in rescuing them,” John Omusanga, Homa Bay County commander, told the news station.

The boat was on its way to Sori in Migori County from Remba Island in Homa Bay County. An adult believed to be missing after the accident was found later.

Update as of 11:10 p.m. EDT: The Kenya Red Cross Society tweeted saying that it has sent a rescue team to Lake Victoria where a boat carrying 200 passengers capsized early Wednesday.

At least 30 people are feared dead after a boat carrying 200 passengers capsized in Lake Victoria near Remba Island, Kenya, according to Citizen TV Kenya, a local television network. The accident reportedly occurred early Wednesday.

Three bodies, of which two are children, have been recovered so far, local media reported. However, local fishermen at Nyandiwa Beach said that nine people were killed, Daily Nation newspaperreported. The cause of the accident is not clear, however, some local media reports said two boats collided resulting in the accident.

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest lake and its waters spread across Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. About 5,000 fishermen die each year due to storms on Lake Victoria, according to a report last month in New Vision, a Ugandan daily, citing a survey by Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala, Uganda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wiky0Pg81wE

MV KWALE FERRY AGROUND

Hundreds of ferry passengers were stranded for hours as a ferry stalled in the Likoni channel.

It is believed that the MV Kwale which was headed to the Likoni mainland developed a mechanical problem midstream when it started drifting towards Florida area

The ferry, according to eyewitnesses, had stalled before it was 'pushed’ by raging waves off it course towards the deep sea.

Ms Ali said they tried to swim when the vessel was pushed by sea waves to the shallow waters at Mama Ngina Drive.

No other ferry could reach the stalled MV Kwale because of the shallow depth of the sea at the point it was grounded.

By 6.10pm most of the passengers had already left the vessel while only about 10 vehicles were left still in the ferry.

Panic gripped about 1,400 ferry passengers on board MV Kwale Saturday when the vessel was washed off its course by heavy currents at the Likoni crossing channel.

The ferry, according to eyewitnesses, had stalled before it was 'pushed’ by strong waves off it course towards the deep sea entrance to the port of Mombasa.

Two women, Ms Mwanakombo Ali, 22, and Rebecca Paul, 26, were rushed to hospital for medication after they dived and swam in the sea for fear of drowning.

Ms Ali said they tried to swim when the vessel was pushed by sea waves to the shallow waters at Mama Ngina Drive.

“We had to dive because it was a matter of life and death. We panicked for over three hours waiting in vain for rescue,” she said.

But contacted by phone, Kenya Ferry Services public relations officer Aaron Mutiso dismissed claims that the vessel had mechanical problems that caused it to be pushed by strong winds.

“The vessel was struck by strong sea waves that could not be controlled by the pilot. The waves pulled it towards the deep sea and docked in a cliff at Mama Ngina Drive where the passengers safely alighted,” he said.

According to him, no other ferry could reach the stalled MV Kwale because of the shallow depth of the sea at the point it was grounded.

SHALLOW WATERS

“We could not send a rescue ferry due to the shallow waters which could destroy the propellers of other vessels so the issue of passengers being rescued by MV Harambee does not arise,” he said.

The ill-fated vessel with capacity of 60 vehicles ran into trouble 10 minutes after leaving Mombasa Island to the mainland sparking panic among its passengers when it started drifting off course.

Another victim, Ms Caroline Anyango, 25, said the ferry started showing signs of mechanical problems before it started its trip to Likoni.

According to another eyewitness, the ferry started drifting at around 4.40pm.

“At around that time we heard screams from the ferry. The vessel was in the middle of the ocean and all we could see was the ferry rotating.

“It drifted and came to a halt after hitting the reef,” said Mr Philip Maingi, a photographer at Mama Ngina Drive.

He said the response to the crisis was so slow from both the ferry personnel and the security who did little in controlling the crowd.

Mr Maingi added that after 30 minutes, a second ferry came closer to MV Kwale where some people managed to move into it.

Speaking at the scene, Mombasa Deputy County Commissioner Salim Mahmoud, toldNation.co.ke that he got information and had to coordinate officers from the Kenya Ferry Services, the Navy and other officials to help secure the vessel.

“We only have two women who have been rushed to hospital and the others have successfully managed to disembark from the vessel,” Mr Mahmoud said.

By 6.10pm most of the passengers had already left the vessel while only about 10 vehicles were left still in the ferry.