Mombasa county leadership has endorsed the construction of the multi-million state of the art Santana housing project nestled at Kwa Sonko area, in Kisauni.

The ground breaking ceremony of the sh 4.5 billion project on Tuesday was attended by a host of Mombasa leaders who endorsed the project terming it as a game changer to the economy of the area.

Megna Homes, the company implementing the project says the 816-unit housing project sitting on a 12 acre piece of land will change the landscape of the subcounty.

Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad asked investors of the project to employ locals around noting that the huge investment shows investor confidence and a good environment for multi-million investments in the county.

Nassir who was the official guest during the official groundbreaking said the project is a game changer to the economy of Mombasa.

"Magogoni people must be lucky, the young people here have a change to change their lives forever, by the time the project ends, hundreds of young people will be employed," said Nassir.

On his part area Mp Rashid Bedzimba noted "This project is a game changer because it will create jobs, we ask the developers to consider employing the local youth from here so that they can earn a living,"

Jomvu member of Parliament Bady Twalib expressed hopes that a majority of young people will have opportunity to earn a living.

"We are happy for the investors confidence to open a big project in an area that has had a record of insecurity, this project must bring down crime as it will open an opportunity for investment," said Twalib.

Mombasa Woman Representative Zamzam Mohammed asked young people to form groups and access funds from the women representative office to empower themselves through sustainable projects.

"The ah 2.5 million shillings per unit is affordable, we ask young people from Kisauni to form groups so that they can start projects and get money to buy units," said Mohamed.

Megna Homes CEO Ahmed Badawy said the flagship project will feature modern amenities such as an olympic-sized swimming pool, modern multi-purpose community centre, children’s playground, a football pitch, jogging tracks, green spaces, food courts, parking spaces and a police post.

Already, the Kwa Sonko neighbourhood where the project is located, has started benefiting. Street lights have been put up along the 400-metre road that separates the project into two equal portions