The Green Park Bus Terminus, once hailed as the solution to the traffic gridlock within the Nairobi City center, is s complete fail, Nairobi Governor Johson Sakkaja has admitted.
Sakaja said the bus station, constructed by the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) at a cost of Ksh180 million, has remained unused as it failed to pass four test runs.
“The Green Park Station is the most prime piece of land in East Africa, 5 acres in the CBD. It was not supposed to be a bus terminal. All of the trials that have been tried even during NMS time failed,” he said on the JKLive Show.
Sakaja announced alternative plans to construct a large conference facility on the parcel of land.
The county boss indicated that there are considerations to develop a convention center similar to the Kigali Convention Centre. He explained that such a move would not only attract more investors to the capital but also contribute to increased revenue collection for the country.
“Picture this, you land in Nairobi from abroad and in five minutes, you exit the expressway into the centre. There is a mall and other facilities. That is something we’re exploring doing under Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). People have expressed interest in building hotels in the conference facility,” Sakaja said.
The governor cited challenges faced in persuading long-distance buses to terminate their journeys at the terminus as another reason for abandoning the multimillion project.
