Lands, Housing & Urban Planning
Lands, Housing & Urban Planning
The department is charged with the mandate of overseeing land administration through policies that guide land usage in Mombasa. On Housing, the department is responsible for urban housing standards and provision of the mass housing plan. Likewise, in planning, the department ensures that every plan conforms to the laid down procedures and guidelines for urban development.
Core Functions & Mandate
The aspect of public participation has also made it easier for residents to take part in decision making and determine what is good for them and demand that it be implemented to improve the quality of their lives.
The residents are able to prioritize the projects so that the solutions that come are derived from what the people have proposed and meet their needs.
“For the first time, through the cooperation of the Japanese Government, we have been able to complete the great master plan for Mombasa which highlights areas of opportunities and areas of improvement in terms of infrastructure and urban development,”
This is the first time in 20 years that a master plan for the city of Mombasa has been developed and already an infrastructure development is fashioned to take into account the provisions of the plan.
Some of the project envisaged in the plan is the Likoni Bridge which is in the final stages of designing, the second and third Nyali bridges and a light train from Likoni to Kengeleni to be completed between 2030 and 2040.
A lot has happened and more is expected in the department. A new land policy, for instance, passed by the County Assembly in 2017 to deal with unique issues affecting the people of Mombasa, has enabled the County to come up with real solutions to deal with the chronic problem..
The land policy deals with unique issues such as tenant at will an issue that is only unique to Mombasa County.
Financing remains one of the challenges that the County has to face. However, as part of the initiative to increase revenue streams, the department has just completed re-evaluation of the valuation roll 20 years after the last one was done for Mombasa.
The department has in its plan, the establishment of special economic zones such as the Petro City in Pungu Likoni, the Eco City in Mwakirunge that will specifically change the way tourism is done by focusing on areas like conference tourism.
The squatter problem is one that has been the biggest headache not only for Mombasa County but the entire Coast region.
Waitiki case in Likoni is just a drop of the entire region concern on land. “All over the County, Kisauni, Jomvu, Likoni have issues like absentee landlords, tenants at will making the squatter issue a ticking time-bomb waiting to explode if not addressed.