Negative Mombasa
Thank you for printing my letter “Kenyan Civic Sense” on 25 July. Readers should not have the misconception that I am in some sort of Mini-Paradise. What I wrote was basically correct, but there is also a darker side.
Cost of living in Mombasa is almost three times that of Dhaka. Potato is per Kg, Ksh 130 (1 Ksh = BDT 1/-), No vegetable below Ksh 70 and no fruits below Ksh 150. Dal 250-350, chicken 350, only mutton and beef at 400 and 300 are comparable. Medicines are prohibitively priced, you just can't afford to fall sick. Prices of other items of daily need can stretch up to even 10 times.
Security seems to be an obsession and guard companies are a booming business. Most homes, apartment complexes have live electric wire fences on boundaries. Few expatriate individuals (no jewellery, mobiles etc) are seen on roads for fear of being mugged. I have not ventured out for a walk for the last 25 days.
Though piped water is plentiful, it is brackish. So water has to be purchased for cooking, another brand for drinking and yet another if there is a baby at home. Cooking oil prices and house rents would make a Dhakayia swoon and rice eating a luxury. Land prices have skyrocketed making Gulshan plots look cheap.
All in all, I feel like a “bird in a gilded cage” pining for the risks of Dhaka's roads and missing my usual jaunts to the kacha bazaar, phoochkawala, vendors etc and to the park outside Niketon.
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