It seemed done, after so many requests and the unity of intent among the associations of residents and responsible citizens of Malindi to see a restyling of a town and tourist destination for too long branded as "decadent".
Finally, last autumn, thanks to funds from the World Bank directed by the British High Commissioner, work had begun on the redevelopment of the waterfront area, from the port to the tip of Vasco Da Gama. The project also includes the reconstruction of the pier, as well as a children's playground, sports facilities, seafront promenade, space for bar kiosks, public toilets and other "facilities". Thanks also to the start of these works and under pressure from the group of which Malindikenya.net is also a member, the Progress Welfare Malindi Association, Kilifi County has also started the rebuilding of some of its roads (after having waited a long time for the Government to transfer them under their umbrella). These are the Casuarina road, whose section of the Marine Park has been completely rebuilt, the Coral Key road to Vasco Da Gama and from the Post Office to the Piazzetta del Cambio (Uhuru Garden). At the end of January, work had finally started on the most devastated section of the seafront road, which had been neglected for years.
Great deployment of vehicles, laying of large pipes to be buried for the flow of rainwater and so on.
Unfortunately this time it was not the greed of some politician or a new legal or electoral dispute, the funds allocated in part had already been entrusted to the Mombasa Equistar company that took the contract for the works. The deadline for the works was set for these very days.
The misfortune of Malindi in this case is worldwide and is called Covid-19.
Because of the virus emergency, in fact, all the works, both those of the open air yard facing the sea and those of the road from the fish market to the Baobab, were suspended indefinitely.
The closure of coastal counties and companies that do not operate as a priority in the country, producing or trading essential goods, has blocked everything.
The hope is that when everything will resume, money and conditions will still be there to continue the work of beautification and functionality of the destination.
Otherwise to the word "decadence" we will also have to add "hopeless". It seemed done, after so many requests and the unity of intent among the associations of residents and responsible citizens of Malindi to be able to witness a restyling of a town and tourist destination for too long branded as "decadent".
Finally, last autumn, thanks to funds from the World Bank directed by the British High Commissioner, work had begun on the redevelopment of the waterfront area, from the port to the tip of Vasco Da Gama. The project also includes the reconstruction of the pier, as well as a children's playground, sports facilities, seafront promenade, space for bar kiosks, public toilets and other "facilities". Thanks also to the start of these works and under pressure from the group of which Malindikenya.net is also a member, the Progress Welfare Malindi Association, Kilifi County has also started the rebuilding of some of its roads (after having waited a long time for the Government to transfer them under their umbrella). These are the Casuarina road, whose section of the Marine Park has been completely rebuilt, the Coral Key road to Vasco Da Gama and from the Post Office to the Piazzetta del Cambio (Uhuru Garden). At the end of January, work had finally started on the most devastated section of the seafront road, which had been neglected for years.
Great deployment of vehicles, laying of large pipes to be buried for the flow of rainwater and so on.
Unfortunately this time it was not the greed of some politician or a new legal or electoral dispute, the funds allocated in part had already been entrusted to the Mombasa Equistar company that took the contract for the works. The deadline for the works was set for these very days.
The misfortune of Malindi in this case is worldwide and is called Covid-19.
Because of the virus emergency, in fact, all the works, both those of the open air yard facing the sea and those of the road from the fish market to the Baobab, were suspended indefinitely.
The closure of coastal counties and companies that do not operate as a priority in the country, producing or trading essential goods, has blocked everything.
The hope is that when everything will resume, money and conditions will still be there to continue the work of beautification and functionality of the destination.
Otherwise we will have to add "hopelessness" to the word "decadence".