Municipality Vows to Bring Down Constructions on Public Utilities

Uasin Gishu

Saturday, September 30, 2023,

KNA by Ekuwam Sylvester

The Municipality of Eldoret authority which is charged with the responsibilities of day to day running of the municipality has issued stern warning to investors and land owners who undertake construction on land meant for public utilities like drainages, water and electricity among others.

Speaking during the inspection of the ongoing construction of a building claimed to be sitting on a drainage utility at FIMS area, in the CBD of Eldoret, the Municipality Board Chairman Julius Kitur declared that they are going to bring down all the buildings done on public utilities and those constructed illegally without approval from the relevant authorities.

“The building behind us is an ongoing construction but information to us is that, it is a drainage, we have the reports from the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS), and we are not going to allow any structure not only this particular one to be done on top of drainage,” said Kitur.

“I want to assure the residents and all the investors that we are going to bring down all the buildings that we find built on top of drainages,” he warned.

He affirmed that there are many buildings coming up in the municipality without the approval from the relevant authorities adding that they are also going to be demolished.

“We have decided to take charge and make sure that any building or construction within the perimeters of this municipality is in conformity with the law,” added Kitur.

Noting that they have discovered that many entertainment joints are coming up in the municipality up to the residential areas, the board chairman vowed to bring them down in line with the municipality by laws.

“People have to construct, build, do their investment according to our spatial plan that is ready. We are not also going to allow the loud music that is played close to the residential areas. We need people to have peace in the evening, not listening to the music from the clubs,” he noted.

He urged people to apply for construction approval from the authorities which he said takes approximately 47 days.

He further warned the cartels sitting in public offices waiting to solicit money from investors who are building illegally saying that they will be held responsible if found engaging in illegal activities.

In his remarks, the municipality manager Tito Koiyet called for a coordinated approach to addressing some of the issues in the municipality noting that nobody can own a public utility space, drainage and among others.

“Irrespective of the documentations one may claim to have, if indeed the space is a public utility then it remains a public utility respectively,” he said.

The municipality manager decried the impunity that they have had over the years as he called on every purported land owner to ensure they own legitimate land and not a public utility space designated for services like water, electricity, drainage and other services including fibre optic and any other future services that the government may want to offer to the people and the residents of Eldoret town.

“This construction should stop. This is public space and it is up to him to decide and any continuation is at the risk and peril of the investor,” exclaimed Koiyet.

“In all of our CBD and beyond, we are going to be elevated to city status, we would like to say that we want to ensure the people who are investing in our towns put their money in the right places so that they don’t waste their investments,” he explained.

Courtesy; KNA