Premium

Relocate upcountry vehicles to Sh250M Green Park bus terminus, matatu operators tell county

A section of matatu operators have asked the Nairobi County government to relocate long-distance matatus and buses to Green Park Bus Terminus.

They now want vehicles plying town service to be allowed to access city centre.

The Sh250 million Park is now lying idle after several test runs failed to achieve its intention of decongesting the city centre.

Matatu Welfare Association argues that proper consultation was not carried out thus the opening of the bus terminus has been delayed.

"We were not consulted and we are not for it because we are being displaced. The project ought to have been left for long-distance matatus," observed John Katimbwa, Vice Chairman of Matatu Welfare Association.

"What informed the decision to displace town service matatus from CBD and leave behind those plying upcountry? Those are upside-down priorities."

He says if inter-counties matatus were ejected, the streets could have been decongested adding that unsuccessful test runs were due to a lack of proper consultation among all the players.

The project, which was set to be rolled out in May this year by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is yet to be unveiled.

Matatu Owners argue that stakeholders ought to be involved in the entire plan and options given to decongest the CBD.

"If they must decide for instance that matatus will operate from Ngara, they must provide alternatives for people to move or from the city centre to that place," Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai said.

"One of the ways of streamlining the sector is by dealing with stakeholders so that they can give advice on how to decongest the city," added Kimutai.

The construction of the terminus began in November 2020.

NMS had projected that the facility would initially be opened by March 2022 but later revised the timeline due to the construction of the Nairobi Expressway.