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By Monica Muema
The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has announced plans to begin the compensation exercise of 4734 fishermen and women affected during the construction of the first berth of the Port of Lamu.
KPA in a statement on Friday said the process will be undertaken through the government Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) following a tedious two-week validation exercise that took place between April 25 and May 8, 2021.
Kenya’s deep-water Lamu Port entered service last week when President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the first berth. Work on two more berths is expected to be complete before end of October, marking the completion of the first phase of the port’s development.
Its construction is expected to compete with the port of Mombasa – which is currently Kenya’s largest in terms of capacity.
“In the lead up to the operationalization of the first berth of the port of Lamu, the need to conclude the compensation before completion and operationalization of the works on the 1st three berths was prioritized.
Accordingly, the task force on fishermen compensation task force was reconstituted and facilitated to complete the process of identifying the list of 4734 beneficiaries as outlined in the Lamu County report tabled in the High Court. A total of Sh 1, 760, 424,000.00 shall be utilized to compensate the Fishers in cash and for sustainability projects,” said KPA’s acting Managing Director, Rashid K. Salim.
So far, around 19 shipping lines have inspected the port. The Kenya Ports Authority anticipates many will use it and take the generous promotional offers currently in place.
On the positive side, road works connecting Lamu to Nairobi via Garissa are well under way. And the new road between Lamu and Garsen has already reduced transport costs as trucks and travellers no longer need to go via Mombasa. Once the project’s highway towards Garissa and Isiolo is completed, the former northern “frontier” region may benefit from the connection to the port.
But there are big question marks when it comes to the overall economic value of a second Kenyan deep-water port. This concern is driven by the deficient infrastructural integration of Lamu and Northern Kenya.
Logistics experts also warn that Lamu port has formidable potential to become a white elephant project because of the immense uncertainties about its core use.