Delayed completion of roads hurt transit business at Port of Lamu

A section of the Kenya-South Sudan link road. [Courtesy, Twitter]

The Port of Lamu has failed to attract transit business due to delayed completion of major roads linking it to Ethiopia and South Sudan.

Stakeholders also say the facility, whose three first berths were launched in 2021, has not gained its footing as a transshipment hub because it has not been marketed well.

Despite concerted efforts by State agencies to position the port for trade, Lamu has handled one ship for Ethiopia. No ships for South Sudan have been offloaded at the facility despite the Horn of Africa countries being touted as beneficiaries of the port.

Yesterday, former Lamu County Council Chairman Hassan Albeity said delayed construction of 257 km Lamu-Ijara-Garissa and 83 km Ijara-Sangailu-Hulugho roads had affected the port’s business.

“The project has almost stalled. It started on a high note but the momentum faded away. We need goodwill and engagement with local and international partners to unlock funding to revive it,” he said.

Albeity said Lamu people should be on the Lapsset Corridor Development Authority board and the Lamu County Government should be fully involved in the project.

However, other residents want the government to engage them in the project and fully involve Lamu County government while seeking regional and international support.

The project was to have highways linking regional countries, a pipeline, airports, resort cities, refinery, and a railway line. Lamu was also to have a Special Economic Zone.

So far, the government has built the first three berths costing Sh41 billion, whose operations were launched in May 2021 by then President Uhuru Kenyatta.

In April 2021, the government through Kenya National Highways Authority awarded a tender to China Communication Construction Company to construct roads to serve the port at Sh17.9 billion. The roads were to be completed within 24 months but works have been delayed due to security challenges.  They included the 257 km Lamu-Ijara-Garissa (Lapsset corridor) and 83 km Ijara-Sangailu-Hulugho road.

Former Kenya Ports Authority board member, Abdalla Fadhil, said residents expect jobs and business opportunities once the facility and the rest of the Lapsset (Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor) projects are fully operational.

However, he attributed the delays to corruption and lack of goodwill.

“We expect that the Lapsset project will create jobs and business opportunities for our people but we are concerned about the delays. We also want to be fully involved in the project,” he said.

Lamu Youth Alliance Director Walid Ali said there has been no much activity at the Lamu port and locals are yet to benefit from the entire Lapsset project.

He noted that in 2012, former President Mwai Kibaki directed that 1,000 youth from Lamu County be trained on port operations but only 400 have benefited from the programme.

Walid said if the Lapsset project is revived, Lamu residents will get tenders, jobs, and bag business opportunities to uplift their standards.

Lapsset is envisaged to connect the Indian Ocean side of the continent to the Atlantic coast and in the north link the Northern Corridor into Djibouti, Sudan, and Egypt.

Lapsset is envisaged as a bridge that will link the Indian Ocean side of the continent to the Atlantic coast and the north it links into the Northern Corridor into Djibouti, Sudan, and Egypt.

Lamu Port is designed to have 32 berths connected to the region by thousands of kilometres of new rail tracks, pipelines, and a highway. This corridor will have three resort cities, several airports, and a man-made dam.