LAMU
Work begins at Lamu on second transport corridor M
id-term and long-term forecasts of regional growth predict that Kenya’s existing port and infrastructure capacity will be unable to keep pace with demand in spite of the huge expansion currently under way in the Port of Mombasa. Kenya’s rapidly developing neighbours, especially Uganda and South Sudan, will soon require a new and reliable transport corridor connecting with a port facility on the Indian Ocean in order to cope with the expansion in their economies that is forecast in the coming years. Already, throughput in the Port of Mombasa is growing by 10 per cent each year. In response to this, the island of Lamu, in the north of Kenya, was earmarked as the ideal location for a new ocean megaport. Lamu benefits from deepwater access, ample land for development, and closer proximity to Kenya’s northern transit destinations. The proposed new port is just one part of a vast infrastructure plan which, if realised,
will be Kenya’s largest-ever civil engineering project. The Lamu Port and South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor is huge in scope. It also includes a pipeline to deliver oil from South Sudan to a refinery near Lamu; a tanker terminal to handle the oil shipments; over 1,700 km of highways and railways linking Lamu with South Sudan and Ethiopia; three new airports; and tourist resorts at Lamu, Isiolo and Lake Turkana. The scale is enormous. Lamu will become the main port of entry and exit for cargo to South Sudan and Ethiopia. The project is also expected to generate thousands of sustainable new jobs in the region and to create a new financial and political stability across the northern province. It will be Kenya’s second major transport corridor after the Mombasa-Nairobi-Uganda route.
Ground-breaking The plan has been discussed since the 1970s, but in 2012 the project began in earnest. In March the official ground-breaking ceremony at Shaka La Paya, in Lamu, was attended by the presidents of Kenya and South Sudan and the prime minister of Ethiopia. In 2013, construction began on the first three berths of the Lamu port. The US$ 488 million contract was awarded to the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC). These berths will have a total length of 1,150 metres with 17.5 metres draught. There will also be container storage areas and related infrastructure. New roads and a causeway are needed to link the port to the mainland. The Lamu Port Corridor feasibility study, carried out by Japan Port Consultants, was the largest
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