• Developments within Sarangombe, Laini Saba, Makina and Lindi have been suspended for the next two years.
• According to NMS, the declaration will facilitate the formulation of harmonized standards and guidelines for buildings and other forms of development
Image: FILE
The Nairobi Metropolitan Service has suspended all development plans for two years in four informal settlements in Kibra Sub County as it declared it a special planning area.
The declaration issued by NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi on Tuesday is aimed to prepare Sarangombe, Laini Saba, Makina and Lindi for a participatory, economically feasible, socially and environmentally sustainable Physical Development Plan in accordance with the provisions of physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019.
“Pursuant to the Deed of transfer of functions from the Nairobi City County Government to the National Government published vide Gazette Notice No. 1609 of February 25, 2020, Section (26) of the Intergovernmental Relations Act (No.2 of 2012),” reads the notice.
“In exercise of powers conferred by section 52 (1) of the Physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019 the Nairobi City County Government declares the informal settlements of Sarangombe, Lindi, Makina and Laini Saba all within Kibera Constituency within Nairobi City County as a special planning area.”
However, Ayany and Olympic estates in Sarangombe have been excluded in the development plan.
According to NMS, the declaration will facilitate the formulation of harmonized standards and guidelines for buildings and other forms of development as defined under the physical and Land Use Planning Act, 2019.
The plan will be a reference framework for developers and regulatory agencies with regard to development control processes and infrastructure provision within the planning area.
Director-General Badi however, notes that the declaration does not affect development permission granted six months prior to the notice.
The public will be able to have a view of the physical map of the affected areas after it is posted at the precincts of the County Government offices at City Hall, the Nairobi City County official website and the offices of the Ward Administrators of the respective wards.
The four informal settlement areas join Mukuru Kwa Njenga which in August 2017 was officially declared as a Special Planning Area by the County Government of Nairobi.
The declaration, also put a stop to any further development in the area for a two year period until a Mukuru Integrated Development Plan was produced.
Residents in Mukuru had not only faced persistent evictions but did not have access to basic essential services at an affordable cost.
One among the many objectives of the declaration was to develop ways which would promote the safety and health of the residents.
On February 14, 2020, the Nairobi city-county government in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development also declared the Nairobi Central Railway Station and its surrounding as a special planning area.
The plan, according to the Nairobi government, is said to complement the existing Central Business District and transform the main Central Railway Station and its immediate environs into a world-class railway city.
"Nairobi Central Railway Station and its surroundings bound by Haile Selassie Avenue, Uhuru Highway, Bunyala Road, Commercial Street and Landhies Road measuring 172 hectares (425 acres) have been declared a Special Planning Area with effect from the date of this notice for a period of one year, with provision for the extension," read the notice.
The directive consequently stopped any development in the special planning area.
Last October, the national government released Sh28 billion for the Nairobi Railway City master plan to expand the Central Business District.
The project is estimated to take 20 years, with the first phase taking place between 2020 and 2030.
Railway infrastructure and water supply will take the bulk of the costs at Sh17.5 billion.