Despair as Mutindwa sheds demolished
Traders at the Mutindwa-Donholm stretch on Outering Ring Road woke up to find their stalls demolished.
The demolition, which started at 4am, comes barely a week after a train rammed an Umoinner bus, killing 12 people.
Moses Njagi of Pemuka Investment said he was informed of the demolition by his night guard Tuesday morning.
“I have tried to salvage my property but some of the structures and iron sheets have been destroyed. I have also noticed that some of my belongings are missing,” he said.
Njagi, who has been selling second hand furniture and other household items for the past 15 years, said in spite of the losses, the demolition had been done in a humane manner and he hoped that the government would give traders an alternative site to do their businesses.
“I don’t know where I will take all these stuff. I only hope that the government will allocate us an alternative site to do business. If it rains today, we will incur huge losses,” he added.
The traders watched in dismay as the bulldozer pulled down their structures. Security was also tightened to deter any riots or looting from the curious crowds.
The demolitions come at a time when building owners on Outering Road also face the same dilemma after the government announced the expansion of Outer Ring Road from the Taj Mall overpass on the Eastern Bypass to Allsops on Thika Road.
Transport Secretary Michael Kamau said plans are in the pipeline to revamp this major road corridor that serves most of Eastlands, with traffic joining it from Mombasa Road, Jogoo Road, Juja Road and Thika Road as the major corridors serving it.
“Most of the buildings along the road are expected to be pulled down to give way to a six-lane road that will also have service lanes into Umoja, Dandora, Huruma, Kariobangi, Pipeline, Fedha and Quarry,” he said.
The project is a joint partnership with the Africa Development Bank Group and the government through the Kenya Urban Roads Authority.
The two signed a Sh3.5 billion financing deal that will see the upgrade of the Outer-Ring Road from its current condition that has a deteriorated bitumen surface.
The proposed project aims to improve traffic flow in the city of Nairobi by constructing the 13 kilometre Outer Ring Road to a dual carriageway standard and upgrading existing intersections to six grade separated intersections and two underpasses, together with integrated Non- Motorized Transport (NMT) facilities for the entire road length.
For road safety, the proposed project has designed 10 foot – bridges that will facilitate safe pedestrian crossing.
Passenger transfer stations have been designed at four locations along the corridor. Street lighting, roadside drains, road furniture and markings have also been design.