Trouble is written on the wall again for users of the Likoni ferry, when a strike notice issued in mid-June expires next Friday. Unless the ferry management manages to engage the union in another round of talks, the weekend may be ruined for commuters and tourists who have to use the ferry to reach their resorts on the famous Diani Beach.
Labour relations between management and staff have long been contentious and often heated with regular and wildcat strikes grounding the ferries and stranding thousands of commuters and tourists, as if the periodic mechanical failures were not giving ferry users enough grief already.
The strike notice has once again led to renewed calls for the government to accelerate the long-promised bypass road to the south coast, which is due to link both the international airport and the Nairobi to Mombasa highway directly to Ukunda and the beaches of Diani and beyond. This would avoid the bottleneck of having to drive through Mombasa city and then stand in often very long queues before being able to cross the channel.
It was also learned over the weekend that the Leopard Beach Resort & Spa has fully reopened, after only their new residences were operating during the past two months, when the main resort underwent annual maintenance and general sprucing up once again. Hotel operators have, according to reports received, also urged both sides to sit down again and talk instead of having another strike inflict further damage to the already strained hospitality industry at the coast.
