The Sh6 billion Buxton housing project in Mombasa is expected to start in January after most residents supported it on Thursday.
The residents gave their approval in the first of a three-day public participation exercise at Tononoka Social Hall.
About 500 units at the county’s Buxton estate will be redesigned and redeveloped into 1,860 modern units. The Buxton units include 150 units for the county staff and another 352 units for rentals. Currently, they are one and two-bedroom units for which they pay Sh2,800 and Sh3,662 respectively.
The project is expected to take two years to complete. The first phase is set to be completed in nine months.
The housing project has had its fair share of hurdles. In 2016, residents moved to court and obtained orders stopping the project, then estimated at Sh200 billion. At the time, it was to involve all the 10 housing estates belonging to the county.
The residents had said the county was shoving the idea down their throats, having not been involved in its planning stages.
Suleiman Shahbal, the businessman who will be redeveloping the units, on Thursday said the project will not only improve the aesthetic value of the houses but also attract more investors to Mombasa.
“The biggest problem we have in Mombasa today is that there are no investments, no jobs and no development. No investment is coming into Mombasa thus affecting the county’s economy,” he said.
Shahbal said through the project, youths in Buxton will be trained in different technical fields so as to provide the necessary labour.
“What is unique about this project is that the youth in the estate will be trained as electrical technicians, plumbers, masons, carpenters, and after training, they are the ones who will be employed in the project,” he said.
The new complex will have a social centre, a clinic, playgrounds, and water, power and environmental controls.
Shahbal said they have convened numerous meetings with residents, which culminated in the public participation exercise.
Residents will receive Sh240,000 as relocation allowance, with the developer paying a Sh60,000 deposit for each of the relocated residents as commitment for purchasing of the new units, for those who want.
“I guarantee every tenant of Buxton will get first right of purchasing the new units,” Shahbal said.
Once complete, the one-bedroom units will go for Sh1.8 million each, two-bedroom for Sh3 million and the three-bedroom units will go for Sh4.2 million.
There will also be bedsitters, which will be going for less than Sh1 million.
Shahbal clarified that in 2013, he was opposed to the Sh200 billion project, because the proposed 15-storey buildings would only have been "vertical slums".
“I objected to building 15-storey buildings because our culture does not accommodate that sort of lifestyle. I have seen these 15 storeys in other parts of the world. They become horizontal slums,” Shahbal said.
The businessman, who is eyeing the Mombasa governor seat, said such kinds of projects have to be properly tendered, something that he says was not the case in 2013.
He said in 2013 and in 2017, he insisted that there should be proper public participation like the one going on.
During Thursday's public forum, concerns on the ownership of the units were raised. It emerged that most of the current tenants are not listed as the owners of the units.
The units, built in 1973, have been handed down for generations without change of ownership at the county offices.
However, Shahbal said the county is undertaking a tenant verification drive to ascertain the original owners of the houses.
“The tenant who is living there is the one who is entitled to compensation. Some of the tenants have been there for even 40 years,” Shahbal said.
Muhuri chairman Khelef Khalifa, who attended the first day of the public participation, said he was impressed by the manner in which the exercise is being conducted.
“This is an opportunity for residents to air their concerns and have them addressed. If they are not satisfied, we will ensure this project does not take off. All residents must be fully satisfied before the project starts,” Khalifa said.
He said for the first time in a long time, a public participation exercise has been conducted in an open manner.
“We are glad this is being done in a manner that instils confidence in the project. Not like the way the SGR was done,” Khalifa said.
He said the project must be fair and take into consideration the economic situation of residents.
“The rent they will be paying must be affordable to the people who have been living here and after a period of time, the houses become theirs,” the Muhuri chairman said.
However, Chai Mbaru, who said he is the chairman of the residents, said they were not adequately informed of the agenda of the meeting.
“We came here with the knowledge that we are going to talk about the environmental impact of the project. There are still critical issues that need to be ironed out,” he said.
Mbaru said the forum should have been held at Buxton.
He said at Tononoka Social Hall, even passersby got inside the meeting and participated yet they have no idea what the issues affecting Buxton are.
However, most residents dismissed their chairman, saying he has his own personal agenda.
Asha Mwidani, a resident, said they are impressed by the [project and that most of their concerns have been addressed.
“If the chairman has some personal expectations which have not been met then that is his own problem. We are happy with what we have seen so far,” Mwidani said.
May Rizika, who has lived at Buxton for 42 years now, said she has been using her own money to repair the dilapidated house which she lives in.
“Now we have someone who will be building us new units, then we welcome them. I will not have to go into my pockets anymore to repair the houses,” she said.
