Ruto’s Sh600m Coast hotel now gets clean bill of health

The building of a Sh600 million hotel associated with Deputy President William Ruto near the Indian Ocean in Mombasa is near completion after the National Environment Authority (Nema) gave it a clean bill of health.

Mombasa Nema boss Stephen Wambua said yesterday the contractor had complied with the authority’s order and removed the sand that had blocked access to public beach.

“An inspection was done and the sand that had been deposited and levelled on the beach has been removed,” he said.

“Our officers took photos as a confirmation that the sand had been removed to allow public access of the beach.”

Mr Wambua said their investigations did not reveal any breach of construction regulations.

“We gave our order. They complied, we inspected and gave them a clean bill of health.”

Mombasa Land executive Edward Nyale said the county also gave the hotel a go-ahead after it opened the beach access roads.

“During our investigations, we found that the encroachment was the only issue after which we confirmed with Nema and our officers that the sand was removed and there was no any further probe. For now, we don’t have any other pending issues,” he said on phone.

The hotel was thrust into the limelight in August when three Nation Media Group journalists were attacked and injured when they visited the site.

The hotel is being constructed on a 10-acre parcel at an estimated cost of Sh600 million.

The construction has been going on for two years and is part of Weston Hotel chain but under the name Dolphin Hotel.