JKIA Rainwater Woes: Travelers Reveal Flooding Fiasco
Once more, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has been the subject of scrutiny following reports from passengers on Monday evening regarding inundation incidents at the facility.
Visual media platforms were utilized by tourists, including human rights activist Boniface Mwangi, to disseminate videos and photographs depicting the stagnant water that inundated the walkways and pavements.
Mwangi characterized certain areas of the airport as steeplechase training grounds and criticized the administration for their insufficient preparations for the impending rain, despite the Kenya Meteorological Department having issued a warning of impending heavy precipitation.
“If you’re traveling tonight through JKIA, be prepared to get into your flight drenched. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is a masterclass airport, it offers steeplechase facilities. You will jump obstacles, waddle in water, and navigate potholes,” he stated.
Crystal Simeoni, an additional traveler, shared Mwangi’s sentiments when she described how the luggage of several individuals perished in the stagnant water, resulting in financial losses for some of them.
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Additionally, she inquired with airport personnel regarding the situation, specifically why passengers disembarking the aircraft were left in the rain when air bridges were readily accessible.
An airbridge serves as an elevated extension that facilitates passenger connectivity between the aircraft and the terminal, shielding them from inclement weather conditions like precipitation.
“So all the air bridges at JKIA are damaged because of the rain we are told. So we are here waiting in the rain for a bus that has also rained inside and is wet. We are a joke,” she lamented.
“And because it’s raining and this international airport of ours has no rain protection, all the taxis and ground transfer people are huddled just by the exit.”
KAA and other high-ranking government officials have yet to provide a statement on the issue, despite Kenyans’ mounting demand for drainage repairs in light of the heavy rainfall that is expected to persist until December.
This year, JKIA has been the subject of numerous media reports due to the imposition of taxes on passenger products and the nationwide blackout that delayed airport operations for approximately two hours.
Prominent individuals, including Alex Gitari, the former managing director of the KAA, and other senior officials, were terminated after the August outage, which additionally led to the generator’s inability to operate.
JKIA Rainwater Woes: Travelers Reveal Flooding Fiasco
