The demolition of buildings on riparian land, road reserves and public land will continue this week, the Nairobi Regeneration Committee has announced.This comes just days after the multi-agency task force heading the demolition exercise brought down the multi-million Grand Manor hotel located in Gigiri.
Residents of Nairobi's Kabagare slum are enjoying some relief after the demolition of their houses was put on hold. #NTVWeekendEdition @Gladys_Gachanja pic.twitter.com/iEnroQ72iZ
— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) December 15, 2018
It was said the building posed a security risk to the diplomatic premises and that its construction had violated approval guidelines.
Painful Christmas for home owners as demolition nears: Kenya Power wants to reclaim encroached land and says 15,250 unsafe structures have been cleared in Nairobi. https://t.co/pEC21Srsyo
— Breaking News (@News_Kenya) December 17, 2018
Nairobi River Regeneration Task Force operations Manager Julius Wanjau yesterday said the demolitions would head back to Kileleshwa where multi-million shilling apartments are targeted.“The demolition will continue and we are targeting buildings built on riparian in Kileleshwa Kubwa.
DEMOLITION of buildings on riparian, public land in Nairobi to resume, team warns — in Nairobi https://t.co/rutK6w0aVz
— Daniel Muhuni (@danmuhuni) December 16, 2018
We will not stop until all illegal buildings are brought down,” said Mr Wanjau.He observed that owners of the buildings had already received notices from the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).The operations manager emphasised that despite the exercise being slowed down by court orders, the team was adamant in reclaiming public land.
New post: Demolition for homes on power lines reserves nears (Nairobi) https://t.co/BebhK41xBK
— Taalamu.com (@TaalamuKE) December 17, 2018
The task force had earlier revealed that there are approximately 4,000 buildings, structures and facilities on riparian or public land in Nairobi.Wanjau, however, complained about the attempted bribery incidents from developers who sought to grease his palms for him to turn a blind eye.
Nairobi court approves demolition of multi-million Grand Manor Hotel https://t.co/z4EzAft3mw pic.twitter.com/dFMVYIIpFU
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) December 12, 2018
In one instance, he claimed, a developer had deposited Sh200,000 in his mobile money account but he returned it.“At times you wake up one morning and find hundreds of thousands on your phone as bribe money meant to convince you to spare the targeted illegal buildings.
A huge story was when the government started pulling down buildings because they’d been built on land that encroached on the city’s rivers and waterway systems https://t.co/TKtWwDns1J #riparian
— Moina Spooner (@Samooner) December 11, 2018
If you are a man of strong values you will do the right thing and return the money so you can save the lives of Nairobi residents,” he added.On Thursday, the multi-million Grand Manor Hotel was reduced to rubble in compliance with a court order that ruled it was a security risk to the diplomatic premises and that its construction had violated approval guidelines.
It is very sad… Who initially approved its construction if there already were disputes? Who gave this owner approval to continue building until the hotel has almost completed https://t.co/3GaM6WTe5n
— Elly UtheriN (@utheriN) December 12, 2018
The owner, Praful Kumar, told court at the time the notice for demolition was issued, he had spent Sh200 million, with the project being 75 per cent complete.The lavish establishment was situated opposite the US Embassy and the United Nations head offices. To its left is the High Commission of Botswana and on the right the Embassy of Morocco.