Nairobi firms set to lose land as SGR project nears end
Dr Muhammad Swazuri, National Land Commission chairman. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
NLC has listed the land that will be taken over by the State with other companies like the Nation Media Group and Mabati Rolling Mills also set to part with small parcels.
The government will acquire sections of land belonging to several companies, including Kapa Oil Refineries, as the Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project nears completion.
The National Land Commission (NLC) has listed the land that will be taken over by the State with other companies like the Nation Media Group and Mabati Rolling Mills also set to part with small parcels.
“Plans for the affected land may be inspected during office hours at the office of the National Land Commission, Ardhi House... and Kajiado County land offices,” NLC chairman Muhammad Swazuri said in a Gazette notice.
The properties to be taken over by the State are about one acre or less each as compared to the earlier take-overs of hundreds of acres.
The government has said that laying of the track is expected to be completed by December.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Friday reported that the construction industry had slowed down due to the deceleration of the SGR project.
NLC has not disclosed how much has so far been spent on land compensation for the project.
The commission initially estimated that only 4,600 hectares worth Sh30 billion would be acquired for the 609km Mombasa-Nairobi railway but in March revealed that the amount would be surpassed.
Compensation for land taken over for the project has been riddled with controversies and several court cases.
A Kenya Railway internal audit report leaked earlier this year showed that landowners in the same locality and with different property sizes were offered equal compensation; owners of buildings were overpaid for their structures and others paid for land that belonged to the government.
The SGR, which will complement the slower narrow gauge network that is operated by Rift Valley Railways, is expected to start operations in mid-2017 and will cost Sh447.5 billion, including financing costs.
Kenya Railways is paying land owners from collections done through the Rail Development Levy, which was introduced in 2013 to help finance the upgrade of the rail network. The levy, charged at 1.5 per cent of imported goods, raised Sh17.2 billion in the year ended June.
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