Second failure to open terminus at Green Park queried
The second postponement of the launch of the much-hyped Green Park terminus in Nairobi has raised eyebrows with murmurs that it was running behind schedule.
Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) had last month announced that the Sh250 million bus terminal will commence operations on Tuesday after almost 20 months since works started.
But in a surprise move, the entity on Monday evening announced another postponement claiming that the extension had been sought by Public Service Vehicle (PSV) operators.
“NMS wishes to notify the public that the operationalization of the Green Park Bus Terminal that was set to commence on May 24 has been postponed following a request for time extension by PSV operators. The new date will be duly communicated,” reads the notice.
The postponement came despite President Uhuru Kenyatta inspecting the terminus over three times last year.
Green Park is among six termini NMS has constructed at a cost of Sh350 million. Its completion would see public commuter vehicles use it to pick and drop passengers in a move aimed at decongesting the Central Business District.
The other termini put up by the NMS include Desai, Park Road, Landhies Muthurwa, Fig Tree and Bunyala-Workshop Road.
Green Park is the biggest and will be the drop-off and pick-up point for matatus plying the Ngong and Lang’ata Road routes.
The first attempt to open the terminal was in December 2020, where NMS announced it was ready to launch the park but postponed the opening.
NMS Director General Mohamed Badi said construction designs, consultation with stakeholders were among some of the challenges that caused delay in completion of Green Park.
Lack of stakeholder consultation is also another key issue that could have led to the postponement.
Matatu owners had doubted the effectiveness of the bus terminus from the start. They complained that the decongestion plan is hurried and NMS’ decision to go ahead without consultations will result in ‘an epic failure’.
Matatu Owners Association chairman Simon Kimutai said the decongestion plan had not been well-thought out.
He noted that the government ought to have addressed key issues including where the PSVs will be waiting after they drop off passengers.
“We support any attempt that will make this city a better place. However, we should look at some of the teething problems. As we speak they want to start with Ngong Road but they are not telling us where matatus like City Hoppa will be waiting. We are worried that this project may end only benefiting a few,” Kimutai explained. Once operational, the terminus will accommodate 20,000 people daily and between 300 to 350 vehicles at any given time of the day.
