Nairobi — Engineers plan to build a temporary bridge on the Garsen-Malindi road after the one at Kanagoni was damaged by floods.

The damage paralysed transport between Mombasa and Tana River, Tana Delta, Lamu East and West districts.

Coast provincial roads engineer Dennis Odiek said the Roads ministry planned to build a Bailey bridge, a pre-fabricated structure normally used by the military, to end a transport crisis threatening the availability of basic commodities in Garsen, Witu, Mpeketoni and Lamu towns.

"It is difficult to put up any structure when the tide is strong, but we are monitoring the situation and will be able to start work once the tide subsides," he said.

Coast provincial commissioner Ernest Munyi has assured 200,000 residents of Tana River, Tana Delta and Lamu districts that round-the-clock efforts were being made to link them with the rest of the province.

Coast director of education Tom Majani said the government would provide a helicopter to airlift papers for next week's examinations to districts that have been cut off.

Meanwhile, the Mombasa municipal council has set up a committee to look into ways of tackling the poor drainage system.The council's engineering and disaster committee says that it has sent four teams to the most affected areas.

Committee chairman Kelvin Lunani said the council had hired a contractor to unblock drainage pipes.

Mr Lunani, the councillor for Maweni, said 3,000 people in his ward had been hit by floods due to the drainage problem.He, however, accused residents of building houses on water runways.

In Kiunga, Lamu, 55 houses had collapsed and 3,500 people were homeless, area councillor Aboud Babadi said.