Relatives gather at a cemetery in Nairobi. Nairobi and Kiambu counties
have been struggling to get land for burials, opening way for private
investors. Photo/FILE
By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Limited space in public cemeteries and lack of family land likely to create market.
An Investor is targeting Nairobi and Kiambu
residents with the first private cemetery in the country as the two
counties grapple with inadequate space to lay the dead.
Eastern Rift Sawmills Ltd has sought the approval
of the environment watchdog to set up a private run cemetery on a
63-acre piece of land in Nyandarua County’s Kinungi area, about 45
kilometres from Nairobi.
Cemeteries in Nairobi and Kiambu are near full and
the two counties have been struggling to get land for burials, opening
way for private investors to seek a piece of the business.
“The developer’s target market is primarily the
Nairobi County metropolitan area, where urban dwellers may not have easy
access to family burial plots or cannot get space in the public
cemeteries that are almost full to capacity,” reads the report submitted
to the National Environment Management Authority (Nema).
The cemetery dubbed ‘Gates of Pearl Cemetery’ will
have an estimated capacity of 700 graves per year and is expected to
run for 50 years before being decommissioned.
It is located along the Nairobi-Naivasha highway,
which serves a larger hinterland including Kiambu, Nyandarua and Nakuru
counties.
The facility will comprise a crematorium,
restaurant, commercial centre, memorial park and a chapel that will
accommodate up to 400 people.
It will be the first to be privately owned and managed in Kenya if it receives the nod from Nema.
Eastern Rift Sawmills Ltd says it will develop the facility in five years.
“I know of no other private run cemetery,” Titus
Simiyu, said the Nairobi County director of environment in response to
our queries.
Demand for burial land has been on the rise in
Nairobi and Kiambu where the property craze saw coffee plantations and
rural homes replaced with gated housing estates and shopping centres.
The price of an acre in commuter belt territory of
about nearly 40km from the city centre more than tripled over the past
years, forcing many to seek cemeteries to bury the dead for fear of
diluting their property value.
The problem has been worsened by a shift in
traditional practices as a result of harsh economic conditions, with
individuals choosing to bury their dead in Nairobi as opposed to
transporting them up country
This has put pressure on the Lang’ata Cemetery.
The Nairobi County is hard-pressed for land and is putting in place a
number of strategies to counter the deficiency, including buying
additional land on the periphery of the city.
Attempts by Nairobi City Council to buy land for
Sh283 million in Mavoko, Machakos County, failed over corrupt dealings
that saw City Hall lose the cash
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