CHAPTER 5LANDS, HOUSING & PHYSICAL PLANNINGINTRODUCTIONThis report covers the period between July, 2013 to June, 2014 and it forms the annual report for 2013/2014 financial year. It covers activities carried out by Lands, Housing and Physical Planning department of Uasin Gishu County.Key Development ChallengesConsidering that the department is still young, it faced a number of challenges which include the following:- In adequate vehicles for transport- the department has only two running vehicles to be shared among sections and headquarters. In adequate personnel-especially in physical planning department. Inadequate capacities in some areas such as ICT, GIS, Accountants, Procurement and Land Valuation etc Inadequate funding Inadequate office space ScopeThis report covers activities undertaken by the following sections for the period under review.1) Physical Planning2) Housing3) Survey4) Lands

Structure of the ReportThis report is structured into the following sub-sections Introduction Policy review Implementation progress Main findings of the review and discussion on challenges and constraints Conclusions and recommendations.

POLICY REVIEWThe department has done a number of cabinet papers among them are:-1) Exemption of rates payment by religious and charitable organizations2) Extension of valuation Roll for Eldoret and permission to do valuation Roll for Burnt Forest, Turbo and Mois Bridge towns3) Paper on Street naming and management of billboards and advertisements4) Valuation for rating Bill5) Termination of tenancy in Kodhek estate6) Draft Rating Bill7) Draft Housing Corporation Bill8) Draft County Physical Planning Bill

1. The department has also formulated development standards to guide subdivision and other development applications. These standards were subjected to public participation and have been presented to the cabinet and awaiting presentation to the assembly for final approval.2. The department has also finalized preparation of departmental organization structure and forwarded it to County Public Service Board for adoption.3. The department has formed adhoc committees to assist in discharging various responsibilities. Among them include:- Lands Committee Housing Committee Plan approval and development control committee Committee on religious and charitable organization Committee on street naming and management of billboards and advertisements

Outcomes and outputs from CIDP Implementation The department has been able to achieve the following from implementation of CIDP1. Document public land (Draft report ready)2. Fencing of public utility land 5No.3. Registration of public utility land 4No. 4. Preparation of physical development plans (5No.)5. Preparation of TORS for preparation of county spatial plan6. Settlement of Turbo squatters in Turbo forest (Manzini) public participation on EIA report7. Survey of public utility plots8. Procurement of survey equipment9. Purchase of land for public utilities i.e proposed High altitude training centre in Chagaiya and proposed Youth polytechnic in Langas10. Repair of county houses 4No.11. Development of planning standards to guide urban and rural development

IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESSConsolidated Implementation MatrixTargetsOutputscosts

1Development control in urban areasDevelopment of standards to guide development510,000

2.Securance/safeguarding of public utility plots-Inventory of public utility land-Survey of public utility plots-Registration of public utility plots-Fencing of public utility land65,000200,000

200,000

3.Renovation of county housesRenovated 2 No. county houses

750,000

4.Carry out planning of urban centresPrepared 4 No. of local physical development plans200,000

5.Preparation of county spatial planPreparation of TORS and budget for county spatial plan130,000

6.Land BankingPurchase of land for public use7,800,000

7.Improve survey servicesProcurement of survey equipment6,000,000

PROGRESS REPORT FROM DEPARTMENTAL SECTIONSPhysical planning Preparation of inventory of public land which is ongoing (This was a team work under the leadership of physical planning section) Preparation of draft planning and development standards for Eldoret Town and the sub urban zone and subjected them to public participation Preparation of Ziwa Local Physical Development Plan Preparation of draft TORs for County Spatial PlanNo.ActivityTotal

1.Building plans672

2.Change/Extension of users30

3.Subdivisions77

4.Issuance of Certificate of Compliance18

5Extension of Leases31

6.Sale of maps1

7Comments on EIA8

Survey SectionNo.ActivityTotal

1.Court orders implemented/attended24

2.Boundary disputes attended60

3.Survey of plots19

4.Mutations presented for processing1664

5.RIM Retraced36

7.Sale of Registration maps110

On top of what is indicated above the section also gives advisory services to both members of the public and government agencies. The department also participates in county management meetings.Housing Refurbishment of county houses as an ongoing activity Maintenance of housing records Dissemination of new housing technologies Management of allocation of county houses Implementation of County Finance Act 2013 in adjustment of house rents Identification of land for construction of ABT centre at Ainabkoi

Lands Solving of boundary disputes (60No.)

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

S/NOProject NameActivitiesEstimated project cost Ksh.Date Started

Expected date of completionMonitoringIndicatorsAnnual target2013/2014Achievements4TH QuarterRemarks

1.Securance/safeguarding of public utility plots-Inventory of public land-Survey of public land-Registration of public land-Fencing of public land6,000,000Jan,2014Continuous-No. of surveyed public plots-No. of registered plots-No. of plots fenced-8 No. of public plots to be surveyed-10 No. of public plots to be registered-5No. of plots to be fenced

-Draft inventory-Surveyed 9No. of public plots-Registered 4No. of public plots registered-Bqs for fencing on going

-Not much was achieved because of teething problems

3.Renovation of county houses-preparation of Bqs-Tendering-Monitoring and evaluation10,000,000Dec.,2013June, 2014-No of houses renovated-5No. of houses to be renovated2No. of houses renovations-There was no clear budget line for refurbishment of houses in 2013/2014 F/Y-During supplementary budget money which could have been used for this activity was reallocated

4.Preparation of local physical development plans-Issuing of intention-Reconnaissance survey-Data collection-Data analysis-Plan draftingStakeholder meetingsPlan amendments-Plan approval2,500,000Sept. 2013June,2014No. of plans prepared4No. of plans to be prepared4No. of plans prepared-Acute shortage of planners and inadequate transport

5.Preparation of county spatial plan-Preparation of TORs, Budget and adverts300,000February,2014June,2014-TORs-Draft Budget-Tendering of project-TORs to be finalized in july, 2014-Draft budget and preparation of tender documents to be completed in August,2014-Draft TORs ready-Draft Budget readyProcurement of spatial planning services is new in the county since this is a new plan

6.Procurement of survey equipmentTender awards 6,000,000March,2014June,2014-Tender floating-Awarding of tender-Supply of equipment-Procurement of survey equipment-Tender award

Equipment have not been supplied by the close of F/Y but supplied in 2014/2015 F/Y

7.Land BankingTendering7,800,000 and others to be met by user departmentsMarch,2014June,2014-Tendering-Award of tender-Purchase of land-Registration of land10 acres was procured at Langas and Chagaiya areasTender awardsThis is a continuous exercise as the need arises

8.Valuation Roll for Moisbridge townTendering4,000,000March,2014June, 2014-Floating of tender-Awarding of tenderTendering completeTender awarded.Valuation was formerly done through the lands min.

MAIN FINDINGSThe main findings of this report are as follows:- There is a big shortage of personnel in critical areas like planning, Surveillance, Technical staff in GIS and Drafting. There is need to integrate the staff from national and the staff from former local authorities for smooth operations and improved service delivery Recruitment of Directors to head various sections should be fast tracked for smooth operations Underperformance in some sections of the department is due to lack of means of transport. This is very critical for those sections which their activities are field oriented like survey and physical planning. Despite the above challenges the department met the set targets for the period under review. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONSIn conclusion, it can be noted that the department has made a lot of progress within a very short period. Notwithstanding the above achievements, the department still has a lot to do in order to improve service delivery. Among the areas which needs more focus in 2014/2015 financial year are: Development of service charters Development of SMART targets and implementation of performance appraisals Deployment and redistribution of staff Preparation of Departmental strategic plan Preparation of sectoral plans (County spatial plan) Setting up of GIS labs Setting up of accounting and procurement units in the department so that it can manage its resources independently Automation of land records we can prioritize land records for former Eldoret Municipal council, Wareng county council and Burnt Forest town council Update valuation roll for Eldoret town and do valuation roll for three other centres