Implementation of one of East Africa’s biggest infrastructure projects, the Lamu port, on the Kenyan coast, has hit a snag in the form of controversy over compensation of owners of the land on which the various aspects of the greater Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project are to be built.
Construction was to start last month and will now be delayed for an unspecified period, after government agencies mandated to identify the landowners to be compensated presented varying lists.
Kenya Ports Authority chairperson Danson Mungatana has revealed that China Communi-cation Construction Company (CCCC) cannot move on to site constructing the first three berths of the Lamu port.
“Governments that are party to this project signed an agreement with the contractor for the job to start [in September] but this cannot happen because the various government agencies cannot agree on the list of landowners to be compensated,” he says.
He added that, while the Kenya government has released $11.2-million to compensate people affected by the project, the process was plunged into confusion after the Ministry of Lands, the Lamu county government and a consultant presented varying lists of beneficiaries.
“We already have the money but are dis- appointed that the wrangles over the compen-sation list are delaying the whole thing. We hope things will be sorted out quickly so that we may embark of this very important project,” says Mungatana.
Construction of the first three berths, at a cost of $478-million, was expected to commence last month, after the governments of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan signed the contract with CCCC early in August.
The facility, which will have a total of 32 berths, is part of the Lapsset corridor project, which has a price tag of $24.6-billion and will be Africa’s biggest infrastructure project.
The port, whose total throughput is projected to increase from 13.5-million tons in 2020 to 23.8-million tons by 2030, will be a critical entry and gateway point for exports and imports for the four nations.
The Lapsset project involves the construction of the Lamu port, oil pipelines linking the port with South Sudan’s oilfields, a medium-sized refinery, a standard-gauge railway line and two airports, besides other facilities.
At the signing of the construction contract, the leaders of the four countries emphasised the need to expedite implementation of the project.
“Our countries must develop the additional transport and infrastructure capacity to harness the immense mineral wealth that we are now discovering,” said Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta.
A feasibility study conducted by Japan Port Consultants indicated that the Lapsset project would directly contribute between 2% and 3% to the gross domestic product of Kenya, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.