Taj Mall in Embakasi, Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | DIANA NGILA
By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
- Taj Mall sits on two amalgamated titles, one of which the government says was illegally appropriated from a road reserve.
- That effectively leaves Taj Mall owners with about half of the land on which the building sits.
- The NLC says in the notice that its decision to revoke the titles followed reviews of land ownership documents in the Embakasi area.
- The NLC notice also affects three petrol stations run by Oil Libya, Jogoo/ Outer Ring petrol station and Gulf Energy.
Owners of the giant Taj Mall on Nairobi’s Outer Ring
Road are set to lose part of their property following publication of a
gazette notice carving out a section of the plot on which it stands.
The National Land Commission (NLC) says in the legal notice
published last Friday that the excised land is for the on-going
construction of Outer Ring Road which is being converted to a dual
carriage-way with elevated sections.
Taj Mall sits on two amalgamated titles (of two and
1.7 acres), one of which the government says was illegally appropriated
from a road reserve.
The NLC’s directive also affects three petrol
stations and more than 70 other buildings in Fedha and Tassia estates
whose owners have been asked to surrender the titles to facilitate a
revision of their status.
“LR No. 7075/13/1 which was compulsorily acquired
by the government in 1960 be excised from LR No209/13938. The title
should be surrendered for regularisation of the said subdivision and
excision,” NLC chief executive Tom Aziz says of the Taj Mall title,
adding that the land will revert to the Nairobi county government for
road expansion.
That effectively leaves Taj Mall owners with about
half of the land on which the building sits and prepares the ground for
the demolition of a large part of it.
Ramesh Gorasia, the businessman who owns the mall, yesterday said he was unaware of the order and accused the NLC of mischief.
Mr Gorasia said the Kenya Urban Roads Authority
(Kura) had assured him of the building’s safety and that publication of
any notice taking away part of his land would be in bad faith.
“We have a letter from Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) saying that they don’t need the land,” he said.
Cede land
Owners of plots fronting Outer Ring are also headed
for difficult times as the notice requires them to cede at least seven
metres of their land from the current limits of the road.
Up to 74 properties in Fedha and Tassia estates
have been listed to give up the seven metres, according to the NLC
notice, which promises to regularise the titles to reflect the
diminished plot size.
Last year, the NLC told the property owners that
ceding the seven metres would be unconditional, meaning that they would
not be compensated.
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