NMS picks fresh team to approve buildings

Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has established a new urban planning technical committee to handle building plan approvals.

The county has been without the committee after NMS director-general Mohammed Badi disbanded both City Hall’s pre-technical committee and the urban planning technical committee in May to pave the way for a single team.

The two committees were responsible for consideration and approval of development plans. However, they were accused of being run by cartels and engaging in corruption resulting in delays in the approvals.

In a public notice yesterday, Major General Badi said the new multi-sectoral urban planning committee would handle all planning approvals while the director-general’s office would deal with the planning tasks.

This means that all property development applications will be submitted to the office for consideration.

“For the avoidance of any doubt, all planning/development complaints, applications or hoarding, occupation, renovation permits and hard copy prints of approved drawings are to be submitted to the second floor, amphitheatre wing of Kenyatta International Convention Centre,” he said.

Major General Badi said the development permits issued as from March 18, 2020, must be processed under the new guidelines or risk being declared null and void.

“Prospective developers or investors and the general public are informed that Nairobi Metropolitan Services will not be liable for any of planning permits dated March 18, 2020, to date, which have not been processed within the above framework,” he said.

In May, Major General Badi declared all applications processed through the e-construction development management system by City Hall from March 18, 2020, null and void.

Earlier, he said the NMS had cleared a backlog of 4,400 pending development plans.