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NMS’s planned bus park at Globe seeks to unclog city


The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has identified the Globe Cinema roundabout for use as a bus terminus to aid in relocating matatus from the central business district (CBD).

The land has been acting as a holding zone for public service vehicles from the Mt Kenya and North Rift regions.

Matatus plying Juja Road and the Thika superhighway will use the new terminus and will join six others already under construction — Green Park, Desai Road, Park Road, Fig Tree, Muthurwa, and Bunyala/Workshop roads.

Last October, City Hall announced that public service vehicles (PSVs) using the Khoja/Old Mutual terminus were to be relocated to the Globe roundabout. The matatus were blamed for traffic snarl-ups, as were the vehicles accessing the city centre through the Globe flyover.

NMS Director-General Mohamed Badi said the process of acquiring the land is underway and in the evaluation stage with his administration working with the Ministry of Lands.

Community land

Mr Badi said the property is community land, hence the need for compensation.

“The biggest issue was that the land was owned by different communities, so we had to negotiate with [them] together with the Ministry of Lands,” he said.

The communities, he added, have chosen different compensation schemes, thereby slowing down the process.

The legal framework for the exchange has since been finalised, he said, adding, the NMS was finalising the evaluation with the Lands ministry, paving the way for construction of a modern bus park at the Globe later this month.

The NMS has announced plans to relocate matatus from downtown Nairobi in phases starting later this month. According to NMS Director of Transport and Public Works Michael Ochieng, relocation will begin immediately the Green Park, Desai Road and Park Road termini are completed.

The phased reopening, Mr Ochieng said, will see PSVs plying the Ngong and Langata road routes end their trips at Green Park, the first to be relocated.

Next will be the relocation of matatus plying the Thika Superhighway and long-distance PSVs from Mt Kenya, which have been terminating at Tea Room on Accra Road. They will now drop and pick up passengers at Desai Road and Park Road termini in Ngara.

The aim is to end traffic gridlock by the end of the year, he said.

“We’re liaising with all stakeholders to have a phased opening and commissioning to avoid having a chaotic city.”