Residents of the upmarket Westlands Estate in Nairobi are seeking a stop in construction of a Sh200 apartment project in the area.
The residents have filed a petition with the National Environment Management Authority (Nema) and City Hall opposing construction of the luxury project in the low-density area, alleging that setting up of the planned 14-storey building will destroy an adjacent riparian land in the posh neighbourhood.
Nairobi developer Vem Investments Limited in architectural details seen by Smart Business, plans to set up a Sh200 million housing project in the prime area located off General Mathenge Road. The plot on which the project will be set up has extended all the way to join a river, which flows downstream as Nairobi River tributary.
Riparian land
In the petition, residents allege, the project is in an ecologically sensitive area, and will destroy the surrounding riparian land. They insist the proposed development would irreversibly alter the character of the neighbourhood and trigger other factors, which have no acceptable mitigation recourse. They also claim there has not been public participation for the planned project as envisaged in the law.
“A development project of such magnitude will negatively alter character of the area around it. The riparian land together with the flora and fauna around it will be destroyed. The development will drastically increase the population of the area resulting in congestion of the service road and overload of the drainage and clean water supply facilities,” read the signed petition.
