Plans to demolish buildings for road project shelved

From left: Roads Minister Franklin Bett, Standard Group deputy chairman Paul Melly, PM Raila Odinga, Roads PS Michael Kamau and Lands PS Dorothy Angote during the handing over of a report on the Mombasa Road land acquisition on April 4,2011. Photo/LIZ MUTHONI

By LUCAS BARASA lbarasa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, April 4 2011 at 22:18

The planned demolition of buildings for the expansion of Mombasa Road has been shelved.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga said a taskforce comprising the government and private sector proposed a change of plan and use of idle road reserve.

“Gazette notices published last year (for the acquisition of land and demolition of buildings for the expansion of Mombasa Road) will be repealed this week,” Mr Odinga told journalists in his office on Monday.

Mr Odinga said the acquisition would have cost about Sh60 billion.

“We are coming from an era where the culture of primitive acquisition became the order of the day. We must behave and work in a civilised manner as a country,” the Prime Minister said.

Under the new plan developed by the team chaired by Roads permanent secretary Mr Michael Kamau, land will be acquired between Mombasa Road and Airport Road.

A service road is to be opened to serve the inland container depot. There are also parcels of land located on a reserved buffer zone.

On the link from Mombasa Road to Southern Service, the government is to use land reserved for public utilities and also open a link road.

The old Mombasa Road will also be refurbished. Land measuring 0.5 hectares will be acquired at the Mombasa Road/Enterprise Junction, and a flyover built.

There will, however, be no land acquisition at the Southern bypass junction.

The government is to acquire some land on Northern Service Road and open a service road to access premises along Mombasa Road without directly linking the highway.

Land meant for public utilities at the buffer zone will be acquired between Airport North Road and Railway.

At the Waiyaki Way/James Gichuru junction, two private parcels of land are required for a future flyover.

“Additional land will be obtained from public institutions north of the junction,” the report said.

The Kamau team warned that encroachment on public road reserves should not be tolerated and the land should be reserved for future public use.

“Forward strategic planning for road corridors should be granted high priority,” the team said.

Mr Odinga said that physical plans contain a road reserve directly linking Likoni Road to Outering Road and that it should be opened up to improve traffic flow in the area.