This archive report was first published on 3 May 2021.
On April 27, 2021, Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) launched a test run of the Green Park Terminal in Nairobi. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO
Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) plans to charge a token fee for services at the newly-built Green Park terminus in Nairobi, Kenya. The fee will be used to sustain the terminal, which is a drop-off and pick-up point for matatus plying the Ngong and Lang'ata roads route.
The token fee will be levied on traders selling their wares at the terminal, use of ablution blocks, advertisement spaces, and other services. According to NMS Transport and Public Works Director Engineer Michael Ochieng, the fee will enable the terminal to operate sustainably rather than as a commercial enterprise.
Eng. Ochieng explained that the fee will be used to maintain a clean environment, fumigate, and ensure safety measures at the terminal. He added that the park must be maintained to very high standards, and this can only be achieved by charging the token fee to ensure its sustainability.
“The park will operate a certain fee, a token fee, which enables its sustainability. It will translate to what activities will be within the park, what traders will sell, use of the ablution blocks, among others,” Eng Ochieng said.
He also stated that the payment model will be implemented in a way that some people pay cash while others, like the physically challenged and elderly, use toilets free of charge.
The director said the fee is still being designed by experts who will then inform NMS of the agreed-upon fee, which will then be shared with relevant stakeholders for concurrence.
