Busy Bee School principal Dorothy Kaimuri at the school on Friday / BRIAN OTIENO

Tudor MCA Samir Baloo behind Busy Bee School on Friday / BRIAN OTIENO

Kiziwi resident Awadh Aboud and Tudor MCA Samir Baloo behind Busy Bee School on Friday / BRIAN OTIENO

Tudor MCA Samir Baloo [green T-shirt] speaks to garbage collectors behind Busy Bee School on Friday / BRIAN OTIENO

An aerial view of the former dumpsite behind Busy Bee School / BRIAN OTIENO

Busy Bee School in Tudor / BRIAN OTIENO

Pupils at Busy Bee School in Mombasa face the prospect of sitting their national examinations this week amid the stench from a dumpsite behind the institution.

Principal Dorothy Kaimuri said the bad smell from the garbage sometimes becomes so unbearable that she is forced to send learners home early, despite repeated calls for a permanent solution.

“We have problems with the garbage at the dumpsite that is behind the school, and it has really devastated us as an institution,” she said.

Kaimuri spoke on Friday after the school held rehearsals ahead of this week’s Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA).

Kaimuri said the county government had previously moved the dumpsite about 100 metres from its original position following complaints from the school. However, she said the relocation had done little to resolve the problem.

“It left us wondering what the importance was of closing the former dumpsite if they were to open another one just metres away?” she asked.

Kaimuri said the current dumpsite was now directly in front of the school, exposing learners and staff to an unpleasant environment and potential health risks.

“Let the county government of Mombasa be more responsible and be mindful of the lives that are hosted in this institution,” she said.

The principal said the stench becomes particularly intense when county workers collect the garbage, as disturbing the waste releases more foul smells. Rain also worsens the situation.

She fears that garbage collection during the examination period could disrupt candidates because of the stench and noise.

“We know it will disrupt the KPSEA and KJSEA exams this week when they come to collect the garbage because of the stench and the noise they usually make,” Kaimuri said.

She said the school wanted the dumpsite closed altogether, arguing that relocating it a short distance had failed to address the problem.

“We request the county to close the dumpsite altogether. We do not want cosmetic solutions to this problem. Moving it 100 metres away makes no sense,” Kaimuri said.

She said the school would send a final letter to the county government before pursuing legal action if no intervention was forthcoming.

Deputy principal Kenneth Omolo said garbage sometimes remained at the site for more than a week without being collected, worsening the stench and disrupting learning.

“The more the garbage stays there the more stench we get and the more disruption it does to learning,” he said.

The problem also affects residents of Kiziwi, where the dumpsite is located near three learning institutions: Busy Bee School, Khamis High School and the Technical University of Mombasa.

Resident Awadh Aboud said repeated complaints had failed to produce a lasting solution, leaving the community increasingly frustrated.

“No wonder they say Mombasa does not value education,” he said.

Aboud said children could no longer play freely near their homes because of the garbage, forcing them to seek space further away.

“It has reached a point where our children now cannot play around this area and have to move further away from our houses just to play. This is risky because when they move away, we are not able to monitor what they are doing or who is silently planning harmful things to them,” he said.

He said residents could no longer comfortably use the area for community meetings because of the stench.

Aboud also raised concerns about disease risks and security, alleging the dumpsite had become a hiding place for thugs, although he said such incidents had reduced in recent months.

He said students from the Technical University of Mombasa had previously been targeted by criminals hiding around the site, with laptops, phones and money among the items stolen.

“There was a time no single day would pass without you hearing a student has been attacked and robbed of their laptop, phone or money,” he said.

Aboud said the people hiding around the dumpsite were largely unfamiliar to local residents, including himself, despite his having been born in Kiziwi.

Tudor MCA Samir Baloo urged the county government’s environment department to intervene, saying waste management had become a serious challenge in Mombasa.

Baloo said county environment chief officer Hamid Shehan had tried to address the problem but lacked adequate support from the county executive.

“Waste management should not be rocket science. And if it is rocket science then people should not seek re-election,” he said.

Instant Analysis

The garbage at Busy Bee School has been a thorn in the flesh for learners for more than five years. Some learners have suffered illnesses that have forced them to miss classes because of the filth. The school is now considering legal action against the county government.