Consultants and contractors of the Sh7 B Nyali V.O.K Affordable Housing Project are rushing against time to complete preparations before the laying of the foundation stone by President William Ruto prior to this year’s Mashujaa day celebrations on Sunday, October 20th
The President will lead the nation in marking this year’s Mashujaa celebration in the neighbouring Kwale County. The theme of this year is ‘Affordable Housing’.
The project in the Port City of Mombasa will completely change the skyline of the Voice of Kenya area, as the 1976 housing units that will be constructed will straddle the border of the upmarket Nyali suburb and the Mombasa-Malindi highway.
The housing units will be divided into Social Housing, Affordable Housing and Market.
The consultants have finalized the project master plan and all the trees in the 23-acre prime land will be preserved. The land was on the verge of being turned into a dump site.
The two-in-one project will have a public and residential sides.
The first component of the project is the public side which will have a commercial centre and a municipal market. Initially, the market was supposed to be an Economic Stimulus Project before it was converted to a municipal market with 1000 stalls.
A level four hospital, an Early Childhood Education Centre (ECDE), a primary and a secondary school will also be constructed.
“It is not a project for the people who live here alone it is a project for the whole community. If you’re driving from Malindi Road you can go to the market or the hospital,” said Mohammed Munyanya, the Project Architect from AIA Architects during a media briefing at the site.
He added that the project will foster a triple economy impact.
The consultants have requested an interface between the ongoing constructions of the Mombasa-Malindi highway to the project.
“The project has started in earnest. We have been on mobilization period,” said Munyanya.
To make full utilization of the land, he added, the apartment’s blocks will be 15 levels adding that geotechnical investigations have been done.
The project has been embraced by all the stakeholders including the owner of the land- the Kenya Broadcasting Cooperation. KBC facilities at the land will be upgraded.
“We thank KBC for giving us this opportunity to develop this project together with them,” stated the Architect.
“It is a very holistic approach and Countries like Singapore used housing to regenerate their economy. At some point we were at the same level with Singapore, they took off, and they left us behind because they created employment through a housing program,” said Munyanya.
He further hailed the ambitious housing program as a way of jumpstarting the economy.
County Director of Housing Rodgers Wakhungu, says in partnership with investors the government targets to construct 50,000 housing units in the next five years noting 15 construction sites have been identified across the county.
On his part, the area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Timothy Cherop assured the constructors of maximum security as they implemented the project.
He urged the area Chiefs to sensitize the community on the project adding the contractor has been directed to hire local youths for unskilled labour for them to earn a living.
By Sadik Hassan
