Kenya Railways removes buildings on its Nakuru land
Traders salvage some of what remained after their businesses were demolished on October 11, 2020 in Nakuru.
What you need to know:
- Several police officers were deployed to the area to oversee the demolitions.
- The government is clearing the way for the rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Nakuru-Kisumu railway line.
- Kenya Railways maintains that owners of the businesses had been given sufficient time to vacate.
There was chaos in Nakuru Sunday morning as the Kenya Railways Corporation started demolishing buildings sitting on its land along Geoffrey Kamau Way.
Several police officers were deployed to the area to oversee the demolitions which attracted several looters.
The demolitions that started at around 4am and are targeting restaurants, godowns, night clubs, petrol stations and motor vehicle yards among others.
A man washes his hands with water pouring from a pipe that was destroyed during the demolitions.
The government is clearing the way for the rehabilitation of the Nairobi-Nakuru-Kisumu railway line by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
The government begun the rehabilitation of the old railway line in July after 25 years of neglect. The project will cost Sh3.7 billion and is scheduled to be completed by March next year.
Kenya Railways maintains that owners of the businesses had been given sufficient time to vacate, with Estate Manager Patrick Nzomo saying that the agreement with the tenants is that they would be given a 90-day notice to vacate.
People rummage through debris following the Sunday morning demolitions.
“The land is now needed for the purposes of rehabilitation of the railway and we have begun reclaiming it,” said Mr Nzomo.
The National Youth Service is undertaking the clearing of bushes along the 217-kilometre line and are also doing other manual jobs.
