BY PIUS MAUNDU
@piusmaundu
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| Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, a wealthy and philanthropic Indian merchan, who in 1906 donated Jeevanjee Gardens |
City Hall Way is going to be modified into a one-way road as
part of ongoing developments aimed at making Nairobi city people-friendlier, Nairobi
City County Government officials said on Friday.
Upon completion, this project will see the road running from
Intercontinental Hotel to Hilton Hotel give way to a wider footpath that will not only accommodate more pedestrians but will also provide
recreational space, said Patrick Akivanga, of the city planning department.
“In friendly cities in the world, more space is reserved to
people than to motor vehicles. We are developing Nairobi to be an
intercontinental city,” explained Mr Akivanga when he accompanied other county
leaders and UN-Habitat visitors in a guided tour through Jeevanjee Gardens that
is undergoing rehabilitation.
Evans Ondieki, the County Environment, Water, Energy,
Forestry and Natural Resources ECM said that Jeevanjee Gardens is one of sixty
public spaces the county government in partnership with development partners is
rehabilitating.
The County government has installed gates on the Muindi
Mbingu Street and Moi Avenue entrances and paved the footpath connecting the
two gates through the park using mazeras.
Commending the County for the ongoing redesign of the park, Aisa
Kirabo Kacyira, UN-Habitat executive director said that leaders have a
responsibility to preserve public spaces.
“Urbanization creates barriers and therefore there has to be
deliberate strategies by leaders to breakdown these and bring back the human
spirit to urban centers,” said Dr. Kacyira, a one-time Governor in Rwanda, and
said parks make cities friendly to the people.
Jeevanjee Gardens is an important park not only for its
centrality in the Central Business District but also its historical
significance, Mr Ondieki reiterated.
In 1906, it was donated by Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee, a
wealthy and philanthropic Indian merchant who worked with the colonial
government for use as a public park.
At this point, Mr Jeevanjee, who passed on in 1936, and
whose iron statute now poignantly stands at the park, would not have imagined
that over the years the park would be neglected to the point of becoming a
hideout for dreaded thugs at some point.
Besides the Jeevanjee statute, the park has a statute of
Queen Victoria, two public toilets, a shop, a cigarette smoking zone, benches
for people to relax, and a concrete sculpture featuring two women.
“This one was donated by a local artist to commemorate an
occurrence in which a woman delivered her baby in this park,” explained Richard
Irungu, an architect with the County during the tour in the park.
Mr Irungu said that part of the rehabilitation of the park
will be to lower the hedge, create a space for the youth to showcase their art,
and install a children’s play facility.
However, this rehabilitation will not tamper with the
greenery of the park, nor interfere with those who use the facility, he
assured.
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