Nairobi News

NewsWhat's Hot

Traders on Outer Ring Road evicted


Several traders operating along Outer Ring Road in Nairobi’s Eastlands have been left out in the cold after the stalls were demolished last week to pave way for the road’s expansion.

Most of the affected traders who spoke to Nairobi News complained that there was no Government official who accompanied the Chinese contractor who supervised the demolition exercise.

According to Gerald Aruwa the secretary of the Tena Community market, what the Government wants to pay them does not measure up to what they used to build their stalls.

Aruwa says the government has proposed to pay them Sh 50,000 yet each stall cost them at least Sh 250,000 to put up, and that’s the reason they went to court to stop the demolitions.

The ongoing expansion works on the Outer Ring Road. PHOTO | HILARY KIMUYU
The ongoing expansion works on the Outer Ring Road. PHOTO | HILARY KIMUYU

But even with the case pending in court, 80 per cent of the traders have already moved out of the market fearing of losing their goods.

According to the National Lands Commission (NLC), landowners along Outer Ring Road will surrender seven meters of their property to Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) for construction of service lanes and parking lots during ongoing expansion.

Outer Ring Road design comprises service lanes meant to ease a looming traffic congestion crisis as the contractor works on the inner lanes.

COMPENSATION

Some landowners, whose assets are earmarked for acquisition, have opposed the proposal insisting they are entitled to compensation for any land surrendered.

The list of properties on the road reserve includes Oil Libya Petrol Station, Safeway Supermarket and Gulf Energy Petrol Station.

The properties are located between the Outer Ring Road and the railway reserve land and, according to Kura, are located within the transportation corridor.

The Sh14 billion Outer Ring Road project, financed by the African Development Bank and the government, will be ready by September 2017, bringing to an end the traffic nightmare in Nairobi’s most populated suburbs.

The 13-kilometre road stretches from the Ruaraka/Thika Road junction to Taj Mall in Embakasi.

The project involves construction of two lanes in each direction, service roads, 10 footbridges, non-motorized transport facilities and six interchanges.

The design also makes provision for a nine-meter raised central median that will be later developed into a bus rapid transit corridor.