Sany books date with ‘city posh place’ as 5,000 buildings are marked for demolition

Sany which has gained a name for its demolition wrath has been a break for quite sometime now. But its long break is almost coming to an end.

The City Posh places where most people dream of living in Westlands and Kileleshwa being the ones on the spot for erecting buildings on riparian land.

More than 5,000 buildings in Nairobi county, which are estimated at more than Sh500 billion, have been earmarked for demolition.

Image result for Westlands

But Tourism Cabinet secretary Najib Balala, who is the city’s regeneration committee chair, warned that demolition of the buildings would have a far-reaching impact on the country’s economy.

“The value of those buildings is Sh500 billion and their demolition will be a major destruction to the economy. Before the multi-agency Nairobi Regeneration Team proceeds, I urge that a serious discussion on policy, compensation, litigation and action be taken as a priority,” he said.

The CS spoke when he appeared before the Senate Lands committee. He had been invited to shed light on demolitions in the county.

He said plans to bring down the buildings in Nairobi have been put on hold until all riparian land and wetlands are fully defined and identified. “We are concerned that in Westlands most buildings are on riparian land, if we take action, more than 5,000 could go down and the value lost would be about Sh500 billion,” he said.

Balala said the regeneration team wants discussions on compensation and the legal procedure on demolitions to ensure the process conforms to the law.

He said the government put on holds demolitions based on a report that recommended demolition of the 5,000 buildings.

He said President Uhuru Kenyatta was keen on ensuring that while the law must be followed, Kenyans are not subjected to any form of oppression.

“When I received the report recommending the demolition of the buildings I alerted the President and the Head of  Public Service Joseph Kinyua that we needed to have serious discussions on this before any action is taken and that is why Kinyua suspended the exercise,” he said.

“When I received the report recommending the demolition of the buildings I alerted the President and the Head of  Public Service Joseph Kinyua that we needed to have serious discussions on this before any action is taken and that is why Kinyua suspended the exercise,” he said.

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