Developer told to remove structure on land reserved for drainage

NATIONAL Capital District’s physical planning board chairman and Governor Powes Parkop has issued instructions for the developer to remove the structure over the Hohola drainage reserve.
Lands and Physical Planning Minister Justin Tkatchenko told The National that the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) and the department had worked together again to rectify work done without proper processes followed.
In a letter to the developer Enchi Investments Ltd, Parkop said the city manager had written to the company in June about the subject of the Wards Road drain reserve.
He said the Wards Road drain was “very critical to save infrastructure and properties in and around Hohola from flooding” and it will be overflowing during a normal storm.
“This was even witnessed in the 2016 storm whereby the downstream and upstream of Wards Road/Islander Road corner was flooded,” Parkop said.
“We have notified you that NCDC applied to the Department of Lands to repossess the drain reserve on the subjected land and we now confirm that the department had acted and gazetted accordingly.
On inspection of the area, NCDC gave two two options, firstly to clear the drain reserve as pegged, with the first three cells to be demolished.
Parkop said a stop-work notice and demolition notice issued on Oct 23 was still in force.
The second option was to knock down three basement floors, forego the car park and leave it as open channels.