Owners incur losses due to planned road project

The construction of Outering Road is set to commence this year.

By JAMES WANZALA

Kenya: Business owners along Outering Road are already counting losses due to impending eviction as the government moves to expand the road.

The road, with furniture businesses and rental apartments lining up on its sides, is to be turned into a dual carriageway.

According to one victim, Peter, an apartment owner who didn’t want his other name disclosed and who owns a 40 door one-bedroomed flat on the road, says he has lost about 90 per cent of tenants.

“Many have moved as precautionary measures for fear of being evicted at the wee hours of the morning as often the case with most evictions, rendering them helpless, this is costing me hugely,” says Peter.

Notice of expansion

He says he used to collect a total rent of Sh300,000 but since the notice of expansion was given last December, tenants have been moving out quite often and now hardly makes even Sh100,000.

Another businessman James Otieno, the proprietor of Oti Furniture Shop, said the road expansion was a good thing but traders should be shown an alternative place from where to set up shops.

“I have been running this business for the last 15 years and it will be unfair to evict me without showing me an alternative place, which will render me and my five workers jobless in the process,” the visibly disappointed Otieno told The Standard.

These are just a few of the many business people who stand to lose out due to the planned expansion.

The project is expected to cost approximately Sh10.5 billion and will last three years, with African Development Bank contributing 88.5 per cent loan and partly a grant while Kenya Government will finance 11.5 per cent of the cost.

The objective of the project, according to Kenya Urban Roads Authority, is to upgrade the existing Outer Ring Road to a dual carriageway.

This is in a bid to expand its traffic carrying capacity to address congestion, reduce carbon emissions and to provide social infrastructure such as market stalls for the informal traders and Wellness centres to address HIV/Aids and related illnesses.

“The project will serve to enhance economic efficiency through improved mobility and accessibility to businesses thereby supporting economic development and fostering inclusive growth,” says a statement from the authority.