NOCK asks government to save building

The ongoing construction of National Olympic Committee of Kenya, (NOCK) Offices in Nairobi. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

National Olympic of Kenya (NOCK) have called for urgent government intervention to save their headquarters from being auctioned.

According to NOCK president Paul Tergat, the intervention should come quickly as they do not have enough time to save the building.

Tergat said they have been given little time by the bank to sort out the pending loan or risk losing the building.

“We appeal to government to support and fund not only the debt we currently owe but further to finance the completion of the project,” he said in a statement.

Tergat said once completed, they promise to make the building the home of Olympic museum as well as house all Olympic Sports Federation.

“We shall further make available several floors for the different arms of the ministry of sports whose offices are currently spread out in various privately owned buildings in the city.”

The current Nock officials have been in office for the last 18 months and among their biggest challenges is the stalled NOCK plaza whose construction started in 2012 but stalled two years later.

The architecture design for the building was drawn up in 2009 and at the time NOCK did not have funds to construct the building.

After failing to finance the building on a build-operate and transfer approach, NOCK resorted to taking a Sh.800million loan from Sidian Bank towards the construction of the building.

After construction started in 2012, there was a good response in the off-plan purchase of office space.