Government now suspends car-free days in city center for two weeks
The government on Wednesday said they had suspended Nairobi CBD car-free days for another two weeks to allow them to vet hawkers and traders.
Representatives from the Ministry of Transport, police, county government and hawkers had earlier met with Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja to deliberate on the proposal.
In a statement, Transport CS James Macharia said the suspension is to enable them to vet hawkers and traders so that they are sure who will be occupying the selling area provided.
“In order to ensure that all hawkers and traders are for security reasons comprehensively vetted by BVR, and also to complete all consultations, the piloting for car-free days has been deferred for a minimum of two weeks,” said Macharia in the statement.
The plan was to kick off starting February with Wednesdays and Saturdays as the proposed car-free days.
From February 1, the Nairobi central business district was to be closed to personal vehicles.
Selected parking lots were to be transformed into open-air markets where traders will be allowed to sell their wares.
The pilot was to cover Harambee and Moi Avenues and City Hall Way, the CS said without stating how long the pilot will last and now has also been differed.