Watamu Residents and Tourism Stakeholders Oppose Affordable Housing Project Over Threat to Public Park and Heritage Trees.

Environmental conservationists and tourism stakeholders in Watamu town, Kilifi County are calling for the relocation of the proposed affordable housing project from a public amusement park fearing that age long trees will be felled.

Led by Justin Kitsao and Steve Curtis, the group stated that the project threatened the only remaining environmentally friendly park and gate way to Watamu that has for long be used to market the area as a tourism destination.

Residents, and tourism stakeholders including investors in Watamu have opposed the proposed location of the Affordable Housing project terming it a big threat to the environment as it was the only remaining public park in the area.

Kitsao said that the proposed site where the government plans to put up 600 housing units has already been sealed off at the Watamu Chief’s office has old Neem trees and is an open ground where meetings are held and is the face of the resort town for anyone arriving for holiday and once the houses are built it will destroy the natural look.

“We are not opposed to the project but it should have been implemented at a different location because this please is very special to us residents and conservationists in Watamu. President William Ruto has previously used this place for his political campaigns and it will be a shame if he is the one who wants to destroy it,” he said.

Curtis who has invested heavily in the hospitality sector said that if the project would be done there, he would pull out from Watamu, warning that many other investors would follow suit as the project would make Watamu look ugly.

“Watamu is the face of Kenya’s beach tourism and erecting ugly houses here will be detrimental to the tourism industry and I will be the first investor to pull out my investment if the project continues here. We have a lot of land in Watamu where the government can put up the project and the Watamu chief’s office grounds is not one of them,” he said.