NHC picks Ruai as launch pad for police housing project

NHC workers construct a sample expanded polystyrene panels house on Aga Khan Walk on June 14, 2013. The agency has started construction of 44 pilot housing units at Ruai Police Station. FILE 

By NEVILLE OTUKI,

In Summary

• The National Housing Corporation says it has started construction of 44 pilot housing units at Ruai Police Station.
• The houses will be built using the cheaper EPS technology which uses soft boards and wire mesh to make floor, wall and roof panels.

The National Housing Corporation (NHC) has picked Ruai estate in Nairobi as launch pad for its housing project aimed at providing police with decent accommodation facilities.

NHC Friday announced that the construction of 44 pilot housing units at Ruai Police Station had commenced with plans afoot to move the project to other areas.

This follows the Treasury’s allocation of Sh1.2 billion to the housing corporation toward the construction of 2,000 housing units across the country by the end of the financial year in June 2014.

The project is set to ease pressure on police who in the past have been forced to share accommodation units owing to an acute housing crunch.

NHC said the houses will be built using the cheaper Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) technology which uses soft boards and wire mesh to make floor, wall and roof panels.

The panels are made at the NHC’s Sh1 billion factory at Mavoko in Machakos Country.

The housing agency said it was training youth in the EPS technology with the hope of opening up employment opportunities in the sector.

“As the technology is easy to grasp and easier to use, the Government will be able to engage more youth in construction and enhance their employability through skills transfer” NHF managing director Wachira Njuguna said during the announcement.

Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo lauded the initiative saying it was “part of police service welfare” that would motivate the police force to work well.

With Kenya’s housing deficit of about 150,000 units per year, NHC said it was looking to develop at least 10,000 units in the next five years that would serve more civil servants.

Additionally, the agency aims to leverage on sale of its commercial housing units to raise funds toward the construction of 5,000 affordable houses for low income dwellers.