Kenya: End of ‘Flying Toilets’ for Mombasa Slums

Residents of Bangladesh slums in Changamwe yesterday welcomed a new water and sanitation facility. The Sh8 million facility, which will serve approximately 1,000 people daily, was established by the Maji na Ufanisi NGO and funded by the Hungarian government through the Hungarian Maltese Charity Service.

“The residents have been using all manner of sanitation facilities like flying toilets. We realised that they need a modern facility,” said Edward Kairu, the MNU executive director.

A delegation of Hungarian government officers, led by Ambassador Sandor Juhasz, inspected the facility before it was commissioned. Lilla Makkay, a senior officer in the Hungarian Foreign Affairs ministry, said her government spent Sh5.35 million in the first phase of the project.

The facility comprises a sanitation block with six Asian type flush toilets, six showers for both men and women and four water points. Bangladesh, one of the poorest slums in Mombasa, has a population of approximately 20,000 people. The project took seven months to complete. Mombasa Water Company boss Alome Achayo welcomed the project terming it a relief for his company.