Handcart pushers cash in on city floods
Enterprising handcart pushers made a kill on Sunday ferrying pedestrians across a flooded 10-metre section of New Pumwani road near the Muthurwa bus terminal.
Pedestrians who could not afford the Sh10 charge were forced to wade in the knee-deep flood waters, jostling for space with the handcarts, vehicles and motorbikes on the potholed and poorly drained road.
Second-hand shoe traders had to lay their wares on “islands” on the road even as the county government came in for severe criticism for the shoddy state of the road.
“City Council collects money from us every day. They then forget about us and never fix the road. This is flood water mixed with sewerage. Then people start wondering where diseases like cholera come from,” said an angry Lucas Mwaura who is a mechanic in the area.
The road stretches from the roundabout at Muthurwa to the expansive Gikomba Market with thousands of pedestrians at any one time.
Areas with poor drainage especially in Eastlands have experienced flooding as the delayed short rains seemed to gather pace this past week.