Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie (left) and the principal
secretary, Mwanamaka Mabruki, arrive for a workshop in Mombasa recently.
The ministry has cancelled a hotel project in Nairobi. FILE
By OUMA WANZALA,
In Summary
- The government suspends plans to construct a convention centre, a shopping mall and five hotels at the Bomas of Kenya indefinitely to allow for a feasibility study to be done.
- The move comes two days after lobby group questioned impact of project on ecosystem.
- The cancellation also coincides with the ministry’s budget for the next financial year being slashed by a quarter to Sh834 million from Sh1.1 billion.
The government has suspended plans to construct a
convention centre, a shopping mall and five hotels at the Bomas of
Kenya indefinitely following protests that public interest was
overlooked.
Director of communications at the Ministry of East
Africa Community, Commerce and Tourism Kaplich Barsito said the
decision would allow for a feasibility study to be done.
“We realised that we had not carried out the
feasibility study for the project as well as the environmental impact
assessment and we want to allow that to take place before we proceed
with the project, which is viable,” Mr Barsito said.
The cancellation comes two days after Katiba
Institute, a human rights group, questioned the impact of the project on
the Bomas Ecosystem.
Katiba Institute leader Yash Pal Ghai said it was
not clear what size of land would be leased to investors and the impact
on current users, especially Kenyans.
“It seems that the conference centre itself will
occupy six acres of which seven are indigenous forest and 31 acres will
be used for hotels and shopping mall. Are these figures correct and what
is the plan for the remaining land?” posed Prof Ghai.
He also asked if there was any survey of the biodiversity on the site.
Established in 1972, Bomas of Kenya is a cultural
centre that sits on over 80 acres of land in Langata. The centre is
about 10 kilometres from Nairobi central business district and borders
Nairobi National Park.
The cancellation also coincides with the
ministry’s budget for the next financial year being slashed by a quarter
to Sh834 million from Sh1.1 billion.
Mr Barsito said a feasibility study would be done
in the few coming weeks and that its outcome would help seal loopholes
that had been overlooked.
The Ministry had sought bids for the design and
building of The Bomas International Convention and Exhibition Centre
(Bicec) and various hotels. The tender advertisement was put out in
December and was to close on February 21 with the work expected to be
carried out over three years.
The government was looking for local and
international investors or consortiums to put up the facilities that
would have seen the city gain 2,000 new guest rooms.
The worth of the project could not be established.
The worth of the project could not be established.
The investors were to put up one seven-star
presidential hotel, a five- star, four-star and two three -star hotels
within the next three years.
The Bomas project was expected to boost tourism in
Nairobi, especially business travel, which has been growing in the past
five years, leading to a high demand for accommodation.
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