Kiambu County governor William Kabogo has ordered that all developers putting up single-room houses for rent to acquire approvals from sub county offices and not county headquarters.
This order eases earlier procedures where such approvals were sought from the County Headquarters thereby complicating the process of approving and monitoring building plans.
“Those developers seeking to put up single-room residential houses will no longer have to apply for approvals from the county headquarters but rather from their respective sub-county offices effective immediately. This is in a bid to streamline building and planning department for easy monitoring and better services,” the county boss said.
Speaking yesterday in Thika, Kabogo put corrupt officers on notice saying they were the reason why most investors have been scared away.
“I want to warn all corrupt officers who ask for money to approve plans that they will face the law. They are the reason some investors have been reluctant to invest in the county due to high corruption levels,” Kabogo warned.
Kabogo also confirmed that he has in the past received complaints involving corruption cases from planning offices and vowed to deal with those involved.
The process of approval, Kabogo said, will now take a maximum of 14 days to be passed or rejected. He added that more offices will be deployed to monitor adherence to all safety rules during construction period to curb rising cases of collapsing of buildings.