Building Along The Rivers Ain’t The Real Problem, We Lack Creativity And Engineering Skills

By Daisy Kale

We may laugh at him because we’re used to seeing him as semi-literate, but Kiambu Governor Fernandid Waititu has a very valid, educated and futuristic point.

Building along the rivers ain’t the real problem.
If you look at the major cities in Europe, buildings have been constructed just next to or along the rivers and still there are no drainage problems.

What is eating us is lack of creativity and engineering skills to construct along river basins.

In Europe especially, rivers like Thames in London run throw their cities. They have been dredged such that they even accommodate medium-sized cruise ships.

In fact, the second largest shipping port in Europe, the Port of Antwerp has been built on the estuary of river Scheldt. And this port runs 80 kilometers deep inland.

Most of the waste in these cities is recycled so they do not have dumping problems like we have here. (employment opportunities right there). The rivers are clean such that people even go sailing in them.

Instead of laughing at Waititu and mocking him, we should lend him a hearing ear.
His lamentations may wake us up into the real root of our problems. It’s our lack of knowledge and skills that are preventing us from harnessing our environment for the benefit of all of us.

Bash him, but the man has a point, it’s putting it across that’s the problem.

Society grows when people are open to new ideas. Not when they dogmatically stick to old assumptions.

Waititu just brought a new angle to the debate which can be explored for future application…

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