County accuses NTSA of interfering with city beautification

The Nairobi County government has accused the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) of interfering with its efforts to beautify the capital.

County officials say the NTSA has erected barriers along city roads in defiance of a county order against stepping on the "Kidero grass".

The county says the NTSA has put up illegal advertisements on the barriers, and county officials have threatened to start dismantling the barriers from next week.

The NTSA has been putting up barriers along Mombasa and North Airport roads to discourage pedestrians from crossing the busy highways and use footbridges instead.

Speaking to Nation.co.ke, Nairobi land and urban planning executive Christopher Khaemba said: “The NTSA has gone ahead to erect barriers on the highway [but] we will dismantle them as they are not aligned to the county by laws.”

Mr Khaemba accused the agency of placing adverts without the approval of the county, which he said was in charge of outdoor advertisement.

He added that they had blighted the highways by undermining the county's efforts to make them more beautiful.

Mr Khaemba said the highways need more footbridges and that instead of blocking the lawns with barriers, the NTSA should provide more alternatives for crossing them.

“The money they are using to put up the barriers should have been used to put up footbridges for pedestrians as the [few] available ones are far [apart],” he argued.

GRASS NEGLECTED

A spot check by the Nation on Uhuru Highway confirmed that the grass planted a few months ago had been neglected and the order stopping the public from stepping on the grass is routinely ignored.

Hawkers, pedestrians, boda boda operators and motorists have littered the once beautiful lawns and the grass is drying up.

City Hall used about Sh50 million to spruce up the highways from the city centre to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to the country last year.

The beautification included landscaping and planting grass on the open spaces between the divided highways.

And just before President Obama arrived in Kenya, Dr Kidero was ridiculed by some Kenyans, who made fun of the project when the grass took longer than expected to sprout.

However, shortly after Mr Obama left, the grass began to grow into beautiful lawns, though the grassy areas have now turned into dry patches strewn with plastic refuse and other garbage.

County environment executive Peter Kimori attributed the drying grass to lack of water as the designated water points had been vandalized. However, he said the water points have now been repaired.

“All the nine water points along Uhuru Highway are working. The watering of the Kidero grass should not be a problem, we should ensure that they are not vandalized,” said Mr Kimori.