The Nation (Nairobi)
Daniel Nyassy
4 November 2009
Nairobi — Salt manufacturers in the North Coast are counting their losses as the El-Nino rains subside in the area after causing great destruction.
The seven salt manufacturing firms between Gongoni and Kanagoni have lost about Sh 600 million in three weeks following the heavy rains that grounded salt production. A director at Malindi Salt Firm Mr Mohamed Awadh told journalists that his company has lost more than Sh 8 million during the three weeks rainy season.
"Rain water flooded our paddocks and destroyed the salt we were trapping. There was no evaporation due to the wet conditions," he said. Mr Awadh said two dykes constructed at a cost of Sh 5 million within the company salt grounds were completely destroyed by the floods. "A total of 4,000 tons of salt we had preserved in our tanks was also destroyed by the rainwater," said Mr Awadh.
At the moment, rain water is still flowing into the paddocks and salt harvesting has been suspended in all the six firms, he said. The salt manufacturers companies in the area include Malindi Salt, Krystaline Marereni, Krystaline Gongoni, Kemusalt, Kurawa, Mombasa Salt and Kensalt.
A manager at Krystaline Marereni Mr Bimji Varsani told the press that flooding into the salt firm land threatened them with more loses. "There is still a lot of water flowing into our farmland. It has already destroyed our paddocks," he said.
However, Mr Varsani said the loss incurred had not yet been established but it ran into millions of shillings. Kemusalt firm remains cut off from Mombasa after a section of the Malindi-Lamu road was swept away by floods at Kanagoni two weeks ago. If the rains persist, fears are that there could be scarcity of salt within the East African region which depends on the Gongoni-Marereni firms.
Apart from meeting the domestic and east African region demand, the companies also produce salt for export to the Middle East.
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A very interesting and thoughtful article. The best way for Africa to help itself with GHG is to stop exporting oil and gas to the outside world. Gas that is valuable enough to ship abroad and sell should be sold at a price that is competitive enough to keep it home. Catch all of that gas, and use it for yourselves. You will then have electricity and cooking fuel both. It is maddening to see forests felled for charcoal cooking fuel while cleaner-to-use gas is being wasted. Each of your nations should try to be the last to run out of fuel. Move to solar, wind, geothermal and biofuels from wastes for your energy sources.
Other activities to fight climate change troubles include the restoration of your waterways to full functionality by clearing the weeds that clog them and the silt that they have left behind.
Just a factual correction. Nigerian LNG is not sold to Benin, Togo and Ghana. There is a gas pipeline from Nigeria to these three countries. But it does not carry LNG. It carries natural gas under pressure. Unfortunately, becuse there is insufficient gas being gathered and shipped from Nigeria, the pipeline has been empty for over a year.
In today's climate talk that's going and will be converse more in December must not be damaging to Africa. Together, Africa MUST STAND FIRMLY and get what she deserves - BETTER and LASTING AGREEMENT. That's, what is beneficial for Africa. Any negativities effects concerning our people standard of living MUST NOT be accepted by any Africa Government. The days of a/an African Live seeing as less than an insect or any other most be OVER and SHOULD NOT be negotiated in any Climate talks. Our "Africans" lives and living standard is/are as important as any other lives. Therefore, as Africans head to the climate talk in December, please open your ears, listen carefully, don't be trick, and don't accept anything lesser to solve your prombles for the betterness of your people in the whole of Africa - period !!!!! The days of damaging Africans' lives, enviroment, living conditions; the physical and metal abuses should and most all come to an end. Therefore, we "Africans" should not be conveince with their sweet tooth to accept something lesser where'in our people keep continue to suffer and die for their pleasures and the lack of consideration for Africans lives and living standards. God Bless Africa
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