Nakuru matatus to remain blocked from CBD
Matatus will not be allowed back into Nakuru's Central Business District after Governor Lee Kinyanjui maintained his firm stand.
What was initially intended as a temporary measure to decongest the town when the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the county in mid-March has become a policy.
Hundreds of Public Service Vehicle operators were distributed in three main stages outside town.
Street protests including blocking of the busy Northern Corridor highway and threats to strike have borne no fruit as Governor Kinyanjui has stood his ground.
On Monday, he yet again insisted that PSV operators will not be allowed in town, a move that has been praised by the business community and many other people who feel that the town is cleaner and less congested.
Others feel that the current plan has created opportunities for other groups such as taxis, tuk tuks, boda boda riders and even porters who ferry goods and people from one terminus to the other.
“The move to relocate matatu operators was initially meant to decongest the town during the Covid-19 pandemic but after deliberations, it was evident that there is free movement in the town and people can conduct their businesses with ease,” Kinyanjui said.
He promised that his administration will make sure matatu operators are comfortable where they are.
“This is the way to build the town. We want to open the CBD from being a one-street town to a bigger, expanded city,” Kinyanjui said.
He said the county government will tarmac the roads outside the CBD so that businesses are not restricted to the town’s main street, Kenyatta Avenue.
But matatu operators appealed to the national government to intervene since their efforts to agree at the county level for the past three months have been fruitless.
They appealed to the national government to ensure their return to the CBD, claiming that they did not have proper facilities in their current locations.

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