Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero. Photo/FILE
By KIARIE NJOROGE
Investors have expressed interest in setting up a
hotel and a casino on a 45 acre piece of land bordering the Nairobi Dam
once it is cleaned up.
According to the chairman of a task force set up
to restore the dam, Bartonjo Chesaina, investment interests they have
received are modelled on public private partnerships.
The idea is to create a leisure park with a waterfront where families can shop and have boat rides.
“It won’t be just about sailing and fishing. We
intend to have commercial activities. We intend to put up market places,
malls and hotels. We have 42 acres under water and 45 acres where these
developments can be done,” said Mr Chesaina.
The task force has set a December 31 deadline to have started draining and cleaning the dam for three years.
It has developed a Sh700 million budget for
fencing, draining, dredging and cleaning three streams that feed the
dam. Governor Evans Kidero had promised Sh200 million in seed money but
only Sh50 million has been provided for in the budget estimates.
The dam is heavily polluted and has a canopy of
water hyacinth. It borders the populous Kibera slum and has over the
last few decades been turned into a dumping site.
Storm water drains are planned to ensure rain water carrying debris does not find its way into the dam.
Once the clean-up is done, the fenced-off area will be handed over to a management committee.
Nairobi Dam was built in 1953 and was a used as a
resort where city residents could swim and take boat rides but fell into
disuse in the late 1980s after years of pollution.
This is the fourth attempt at rehabilitating the
dam with the previous exercises failing mostly from lack of political
goodwill and financing.
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