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ON THE WEB
| ISSN 0856-9135; No. 00225 |
June 22 - 28, 2002 |
ON THE WEB
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I Welcome the Njiro Road Works ButBy lute wa lutengano Pinch me! It is true. The Njiro road and several others in the centre of Arusha are going to have tarmac. Konoike have actually begun the works on the much talked about Njiro road. At long last the second phase of the World Bank financed road rehabilitation programme is in full swing. My contraption, which is sometimes called a car, is all smiles. After some bone rattling experience of several years, which almost turned it into a museum piece, it will in the very near future cruise comfortably along the Njiro road. So in my enthusiasm I have decided there is need to invest in Njiro. My small brain tells me that with the good road more people would definitely patronise the area. My idea of investment is a good country club to cater for weekend boozers and children's games facility. I know most weekend boozers are family people who love their kids. So while they imbibe their weekend lager, which they must anyhow, why not create facilities for their children to indulge in as well. My 'Raha‑Tele Country Club', that is the name I have christened it, needs a location. Therefore the other day I went around Njiro scouting for a place to house it. Was I shocked! Overnight prices for properties along the Njiro road seem to have shot through the roof. Prices for properties for sale or for rent are, simply put, astronomical. The reason I am given goes like, 'Don't you see the good road which will pass next to your proposed Raha Tele establishment?' I have tried to present my argument that the road is not everything. For example, I have argued that it is nothing when some foul smelling oily and surely dangerous stuff is dumped in the Njiro forest by some prominent factory. This is causing the forest to die slowly but surely, apart from being a health hazard to residents in the area. The road will not change the ominous fact that truckloads of rotten 'takataka' from all over Arusha are ferried through it only to be dumped in Njiro. Visit the so‑called restaurants and watering holes in Njiro and you will come across what I think is a population explosion of those menacingly huge bluish flies which I believe are commonly known as toilet flies. They will invade your drink or food buzzing around you like some suicidal Al‑Qaida hijackers. Surely this does not make the Njiro road the answer to Njiro problems. I have further argued that come Nane Nane show, and the whole Njiro area is covered by dust from the thousands of show goers who patronise the dusty grounds. The Nane Nane grounds are for a whole week transformed into some desert storm theatre. Hordes of shouting and boozing people invade the grounds in the name of an agricultural show. Loud 'ndombolo' music blares from dozens of speakers, to entertain the crowd to the wee hours of the morning. The next morning you see the whole ground and its neighbouring residential areas littered with empty beer bottles and used condoms. To cap it all, a strong smell of stale urine hovers all over the area. I am sure the Njiro road will also not improve on this sorry state of hygiene. Therefore much as I welcome the new road to Njiro, I do know that that is not the end of the Njiro problems and their accompanying woes. |
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Last modified:
June 21, 2002. Webmaster: WDJMallya |