Mvurya gives investors six months to develop land

The CS for Trade and Industries Salim Mvurya (L) joins senior government officers in a tour of the Mai Mahiu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Naivasha which has attracted a total of 19 investors. Of the number, eleven companies have already been issued with licenses to start operations. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

Investors who acquire land in any of the 38 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) across the country will have six months to start developing it, failure to which their licenses will be cancelled.

Issuing the directive, Trade and Industries Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya accused some investors of hoarding parts of the allocated land for speculation purposes, locking out other potential companies.

This came as the government moved in to gazette an extra 5,000 acres at the Mai Mahiu SEZ in Naivasha as more investors sought land at the facility. According to Mvurya, some investors were yet to invest in the land allocated to them years down the line. He noted that any license issued to such investors would be revoked within six months and the land allocated to another company.

“We have seen cases where some investors are hoarding land for speculation purposes and from now henceforth, they will have six months to start investment or the license will be revoked,” he said.

The CS was speaking in Mai Mahiu SEZ during the groundbreaking of the Sh365 million Crystal Potatoes processing plant that on completion would employ over 350 workers.

Mvurya said that to date, 19 investors had applied for land in the SEZ with 11 already licensed in the 1,000 acres located off the Mai Mahiu-Narok road. “Demand for extra land in this industrial park has risen and the government has gazetted 5,000 acres for incoming investors,” he said.

The CS revisited the issue of a Turkish investor who left without paying contractors and workers at the SEZ adding that the government had taken over the matter with the Turkish government.

SEZ Authority chief executive Ken Chelule said there were 38 gazetted SEZs in the country with 62 confirmed investors. He noted that due to incentives like cheap electricity and lower taxes, tens of local and international investors had continued to show interest in the SEZ.