Plans for city estates make-over delayed

Some of the houses in Ziwani Estate. It is one of the estates to be demolished to pave way for modern houses. (Photo: File/Standard)

Nairobi residents will take longer before moving into the more than 100,000 urban houses to be constructed by the city government. A delay in the commencement of the urban renewal project will see the dates for occupation pushed forward.

Phase 1 involves 14,000 units in seven old estates. This covers old and new Ngara, Pangani, Jeevanjee-Bachelors, Ngong Road Inspectorate staff quarters, Uhuru and Suna Road. The project was expected to take 24 months and was supposed to have begun in July last year.

According to information relayed by City Hall, Ngong Road Estate would be transformed into 360 three-bedroom units, 1,440 two-bedroom and 720 one-bedroom units. Additionally, the 24-storey Old Ngara (Fort Jesus) Estate would be transformed into 120 three-bedroom units, 480 two-bedroom flats and 240 one-bedroom apartments. Older estates such as Bahati, Mbotela, Ziwani, Makongeni, Kaloleni, Jericho and Shauri Moyo would be demolished and redeveloped to accommodate more people.

Tussle with NLC

Nairobi County and the National Land Commission are engaged in a push and pull over the Sh300 billion project. Through letters seen by The Standard, the county complained NLC was slow in approving documents for the project. NLC on the other hand said City Hall had already allocated land to private individuals where the houses were to be built. In a letter dated March 1, 2017, the county government through the office of the county secretary appealed to the Lands director to extend leases for six sites for the project.

"The county has already signed contracts with development partners. However, completion of land documentation is standing in the way of financial closures on all projects, undermining the start of construction of houses and infrastructure," reads the letter.