An intervention by Governor Mike Sonko will now see shoppers in Nairobi relieved the burden of buying shopping bags from supermarkets.
According to a Nairobi County Budget proposal tabled on Tuesday, supermarkets that charge shoppers for bags will be required to pay a fee, a move likely to see them offer the bags free of charge.
Sonko noted that since the ban on plastic bags, many supermarkets have taken to charging their customers for shopping carrier bags contrary to the case before the ban was implemented.
[caption caption="The non-woven packaging bags"]
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Besides, the new budget tabled by the Finance CEC Charles Kerich will see the Ksh25 daily fee charged on mama Mbogas operating in the estates abolished.
"This is expected to transfer direct benefits to households estimated at Ksh3b annually. This reprieve will however not affect traders operating in designated markets," Sonko noted.
Sonko further indicated that his government will further seek to give incentives to private players who wish to develop new parking bays outside their premises.
The county boss explained that this partnership with private developers will help in increasing the total number of parking slots available and also generate revenue.
Under the new proposal, the county will now start charging a fee for all private parking spaces including hospitals and shopping malls that charge their customers hourly parking rates.
Thanking Nairobians for their contributions and participation in the preparation of the budget, Sonko noted that the total revenue projection is Ksh32b which is made up of Ksh16.5b (51.5% of total) transfers from National county and Ksh15.5b (48.5% of total) from internally generated revenues.
[caption caption="Nairobi Finance CEC Charles Kerich"]
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Sonko further iterated that gambling, gaming and lotteries are devolved functions under the Constitution although the county has not received its fair share from the sector.
"My county gov’t will introduce a fee to correct this," the County chief stated adding that 30% of the resources available to the county will be channelled towards development expenditure.
