Every time Malindi or Watamu is ravaged by a fire, the spirits of those who are unable to understand it and who seek reasons and blame for an event that could have been avoided also seem to warm up.
We are not fans of discussions after the event, just as we will never vote for the 'Taken Party'.
Since 2008, when the Portale degli Italiani was born, we have had to recount 12 major fires, more or less one a year. Each time, in addition to the lack of a valid, prompt and timely fire service, makuti roofs are rightly brought into the picture.
If in the first case, we should remember that we are in Africa and that the habit and the "profession" of certain politicians (all over the world) of reassuring and promising, here is even more blatantly taken for a ride, in the second case, no one can get it out of their heads that with urbanisation, the beautiful, choreographic, Swahili roofs of dry palm trees have unfortunately had their day.
Once again, after a frightening fire, the likes of which Malindi has not seen in two years, the idea of banning the use of makuti to build traditional, refreshing roofs is back.
In 2009, after the terrible flames that enveloped the entire residential area of Kibokoni and the Palm Tree Club, the then mayor Mohamed Menza proposed in the City Council to prohibit the use of makuti for new buildings.
However, his proposal was opposed by producers and traders of the woven "tiles", whose value has almost tripled in the last decade.
Since then, many people have started to build using Canadian tiles or closing off their roofs "Arab-style" with a terrace or solarium.
After a fire destroyed the makuti of the bar and restaurant, the luxury Watamu resort Hemingways opted for faux makuti, a material produced in Indonesia which may not be totally fireproof but which burns very slowly and can be worked on.
In the aftermath of the Oasis Village fire, as happened in April 2019 for the fire that destroyed about 20 villas in Casuarina, some environmental and residents' associations would like to get citizens to sign a petition, and then take it to the County Government and demand once and for all that makuti bundles be taken off the market for building roofs, at least in Malindi.
The township now has too many dwellings to ignore the ease with which makuti catches fire and the speed with which it burns, and the damage it can do to others. Last Saturday's fire is yet another sad reminder of this.
We will see if this time the request will reach the Kilifi County Council and if there will be a decision. We have been waiting for many years and in the meantime too many people, including builders, prefer to have a flammable ceiling over their heads, even if it is picturesque and so "African", rather than spend a little more (initially) and choose another material.