Security tightened at Buluk playground amid facelift exercise
The facelift of the Buluk playground resumed after the contractor vacated the site for nearly one month.
The playground is being renovated ahead of the East Africa Inter-Parliamentary Games that will bring together Members of Parliament and senators from the seven EAC Member States in December.
EAC members include South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, DR Congo, and Uganda.
The construction is supposed to have been completed by mid-September 2022, two months after its launch in July.
However, there was no substantive progress made in August 2022 after a pro-bono contractor left the site following a standoff with residents of the areas whose houses could be demolished to create space for the tartan track.
“One of the reasons for the delay was the planned extension. We want to extend the northern side by three metres. For that to happen, we might encroach in some residential houses.” the site engineer, known as Francis, told The City Review.
On Monday, September 12, police had to be on standby to provide security as workers went ahead with the order to extend the northern wing.
The extension will affect the neighbouring houses, which according to the engineers, were constructed in the playground.
Most of the houses are inhabited by members of the national police service.
But the engineer said that he has since been given the go-ahead, by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to go on with the expansion.
“We need to do excavation on the northern wing and that will affect their gates. It [the gate] must be moved,” said Francis.
If everything goes as planned, the excavation work is expected to be completed by the end of the week.
“We are on the final touches.” Within these seven days, we will be able to level asphalt, connect the water pipes and fix the artificial track, “he added.
Eche Wanji, chair of the Young Parliamentarian Forum’s Regional Integration and East African Affairs Committee, said that the engineer is doing the work free of charge.
