After neglecting the famous Sh45 million “Kidero Grass”, City Hall has launched a Sh50 million beautification project.
The county will landscape, spruce up parks and plant flowers and grass along major roads and pavements.
“The beautification will entail both civil works and landscaping, such as planting flower gardens,” acting Environment executive Mohammed Dagane said yesterday.
Former Governor Evans Kidero initiated a Sh45 million beautification programme, known as the “Kidero Grass”, ahead of a two-day visit by US President Barack Obama on July 24, 2015. The grass was only part of the programme.
SATIRICAL SONGS
At first, the grass was slow growing. The county hired more than 50 youth and gave them power to arrest anyone walking on the grass.The “Kidero Grass” caught the attention of artistes who composed songs about it. In 2016, the project won the overall Landscaping Architectural Association of Kenya excellence award.But two years later, the grass was no longer watered. It dried up, everybody walked on it and it was uprooted.“Most of these areas have previously been landscaped so this will be more or less a regeneration,” Dagane said of the beautificaiton.
Areas to be beautified include Mombasa Road from the border with Machakos and JKIA and Uhuru Highway to Museum Hill roundabout.
On Wednesday, Governor Mike Sonko ordered that all buildings in the Central Business District be repainted as part of the beautificaiton plan.Overall beautification is also aimed at creating a pleasing enviornment to attract possible investors.