Traders in markets to be torn down for the Nairobi-Nakuru highway expansion will be relocated to recently constructed markets, Governor James Nyoro has said.
Markets to be bulldozed include the famous Soko Mjinga in Kinale forest area.
The governor on Saturday said the county government is working with the traders to ensure they move in good time.
Nyoro said his government has started constructing sheds for those at Soko Mjinga market before building a permanent modern facility.
“We do not want anyone to be affected when the highway expansion begins. There are two markets along the highway, Nyambare and Soko Mjinga,” he said.
Other traders in markets along the Nairobi-Nakuru highway have asked the Kenya National Highway Authority to inform them when works will begin to expand the Kamandura to Mau Summit roads.
KeNHA last week asked traders to start preparing to move to give way for the expansion of the 147km highway, which will pass through Limuru and Lari constituencies and will go all the way to Nakuru.
The highway is part of Northern Corridor and the only highway serving from Mombasa up to neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan.
Kenha said the government decided to expand the highway owing to its huge significance. It is used by more than six million people daily.
Peter Kimani, a fruit trader, lauded Nyoro for fast tracking the constructing a market at Nyambare trading centre, saying it will give traders operating next to the highway a place to work from.
“We are not worried because we know a market is being built at this trading centre. We know once it's ready, we will be moved and do not need to worry about where to ply our business from,” Kimani said on Saturday.
Salome Njeri, a trader asked the Kenha to keep them informed on when the expansions will begin as they do not want their sheds demolished and their stock destroyed. She said the projects will improve residents' lives.
The Nyambare market is being built in a partnership between Kiambu county government and Department of Housing and Urban Development.
-Edited by SKanyara
