The cutting edge

By THE WATCHMAN Posted Monday, March 7 2011 at 18:54

Dangerous ignorance: Accidents waiting to happen, Swahili Michael says, include motorists who have failed to master driving at roundabouts. Says he: ‘‘It is horrifying to see drivers of small vehicles competing with trucks while negotiating roundabouts. Common sense says you should back off the lane next to trucks, especially those pulling trailers! How many times have we seen the monsters tip over at roundabouts or corners? Truck drivers warn others to keep their distance, but this falls on deaf ears.”

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Tardy performance. Dying to have a rental mailbox at the City Square Post Office in Nairobi, James Kamau has been calling the Postmaster on Tel 2225599, for the past three weeks to enquire about it, in vain. Says James: “Every time I call, I’m told that they are fixing locks and promised that they will be ready by next week, which never comes to pass. I wish to know how long it takes to get locks fixed or are they playing games with me? Can the Postmaster-General intervene?” His contact is jakany2003@yahoo.com.

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Fix this road. Ngecha Road, in the western part of Nairobi, which a reader complained had been totally neglected for years by the City Council, will soon be fixed to end the suffering of those who regularly use it. Town clerk Philip Kisia says the council is waiting for confirmation of the award of a tender for the road’s rehabilitation by the Kenya Urban Roads Authority. Once that is done, he says, the repairs will begin in earnest and should be completed as soon as possible.

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. . . And these ones too. A resident of Old Racecourse estate in Nairobi, Jackie Wambui, says the dilapidated roads in her neighbourhood are to blame for rising insecurity. Apparently, crooks pounce on motorists as they slow down to manoeuvre their way through the badly damaged sections. The last time those roads were repaired, Jackie recalls, was during Joe Aketch’s tenure as mayor. “Our MP, Margaret Wanjiru, should come to our rescue,” says the resident.

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Customer unhappy. A long-standing customer of Barclays Bank, Brian Walker, was quite happy when he was elevated to Premier status and promised free banking, which, he says, he enjoyed for 16 months. He is now dismayed to note that in the past three months, Sh3,000 has been deducted from his account in ‘Premier Charges’, without any notification or explanation. Brian is demanding that the bank immediately refund the money and offer an apology for what he’s convinced is a rip-off. His contact is brianwal19@ovi.com.

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Thanks for honesty. There are still some good individuals and institutions out there, says Tom Okoth, grateful to the KCB’s Treasury Square branch in Mombasa. On March 1, Tom was at the bank, but forgot Sh2,700 at the counter after he finished his business. On his return the following day, he had little hope of recovering the money. “I was, therefore, pleasantly surprised to be told that a teller, Mike, had called my employer to inform me to collect the cash. Thanks for your honesty, Mike,” says Tom.

Have a bankable day, won’t you!

E-mail: watchman@nation.co.ke or write to Watchman, POB 49010, Nairobi 00100. Fax 2213946.