Nairobi Restores Construction Portal After Public Outcry

The Nairobi Metropolitan Service (NMS) has reversed its decision to suspend operations of the electronic construction development application processing system, bowing to heavy pressure from various stakeholders opposed to the suspension of the system.

In a public notice on Saturday, NMS director-general Mohammed Abdalla Badi announced the restoration of the system, adding that applications processed through the system between March 18 and May 14 were valid even though they will be subjected to verification.

However, the “new Pre-Technical and Urban Planning Development Committees are being constituted as communicated in the notice of 13 May 2020,” Maj. Gen. Badi said.

On Wednesday last week, Maj. Gen. Badi suspended the e-construction system and directed developers to submit applications at the Services’ KICC offices.

He further nullified all the applications processed through the system “from March 18, 2020, to date” –which meant the affected developers were to resubmit their plans afresh.

The general also disbanded both the Nairobi City County Pre-Technical Committee and the Nairobi City County Urban Planning Technical Committee – with immediate effect.

“New Nairobi City County Pre-Technical and the Nairobi City County Urban Planning Technical committees shall be constituted within seven days from the date hereof,” he said.

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The suspension of the e-construction system sparked an immediate backlash on social media, some of it from affected property developers and consultants.

The AAK president Mugure Njendu on Thursday wrote to the NMS warning that the decision would result in Sh36 billion worth of construction losses as 599 projects had been approved by the Pre-Technical and Urban Planning Technical committees.

On the same day, the Town and County Planners Association of Kenya chairman Mairura Omwenga urged Maj. Gen. Badi to lift the suspension since the electronic construction permit system was designed to curtail losses to all stakeholders.

Mr Omwenga further warned that developing a new system, as proposed by the NMS, was a capital-intensive venture that could take up to 15 years to become a reality.  He also opposed the order on manual submission of applications, saying it would slow down service delivery.

The final blow to the NMS’s decision was delivered by the East African Community & Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed. During a meeting on Friday, attended by both NMS and City Hall officials, Dr Mohamed asked the NMS to withdraw the notice that nullified previous approvals.

The Cabinet Secretary asked the director general not to take actions that would slow down the delivery of services to the people of Nairobi and cause loss of revenue to the government.

There were fears that suspension of the system would result in stagnation of building approvals, leading to rescheduling of multi-billion-shilling projects due to lack of permits.

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