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Saturday, September 15, 2018

Chaos as cops tear gas 'looters' at Taj Mall, demolition halted for tenants to move

The demolition exercise at Airgate Centre formerly known as Taj Mall has been halted for a while to enable Kenya Power engineers to removed a generator from the building.

The generator was being used as an alternative power source for the building.

A few tenants who had not vacated have also been allowed to clear their stock.

Earlier on, police used tear gas to disperse youths who were attempting to storm inside the mall to loot scrap metal and valuables.

Read; Gorasia dares state to demolish Taj Mall

A spotcheck by the Star indicated that Rams supermarket at the ground floor had not removed his wares.

It is owned by the building owner Ramesh Gorasia. Gorasia’s office is at the basement.

In September, Gorasia said he will not vacate as ordered by the team in charge of demolitions of illegal buildings.

“I’ll not leave or remove anything from the building. Why should I do that? If they want to demolish, let them come and do whatever they want to do,” Gorasia said.

The green excavator arrived at the Sh5.5 billion mall along the Outering road at 6.30 am on Saturday.

Another restaurant owner who had not vacated the premise had his stuff destroyed.

Read:{PHOTOS} Taj Mall demolition underway

Authorities had given Gorasia until August 31 to vacate and demolish the building at his own cost as it encroached on the road reserve hindering its expansion.

Read: Demolition spree: Taj Mall tenants have until August 30 to leave

The operation is being supervised by the Nairobi Regeneration Committee.

Speaking at the site, Pipeline MCA Stephen Gikonyo said that the demolition will provide space for the widening of a service lane.

“The service lane we have at the moment is not wide enough and that is because of this building. Motorists have to go around all the way to General Motors on Mombasa Road for them to make a turn at Cabanas,” Gikonyo said.

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