Byggeriet af et havneprojekt og olieraffinaderi til knap 130 milliarder danske kroner er begyndt i Kenyas sydøstlige Lamu-region tæt ved grænsen til Somalia.
An oil pipeline, railway and motorway will also be built linking Lamu to South Sudan and Ethiopia. Newly independent South Sudan plans to use Lamu as its main oil export outlet, BBC online reports Friday.
Security concerns for the project may explain the presence of Ethiopian and Kenyan troops in Somalia aiming to pacify the region, reports BBC.
‘Biggest African project’
Kenya’s leader Mwai Kibaki launched the project along with his South Sudanese and Ethiopian counterparts, Salva Kiir and Meles Zenawi respectively.
Known as Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (Lapsset), it is expected to be completed within four years with initial costs coming from the three governments and plans to attract international investment.
Steven Ikuwa, the administrator in charge of Lapsset told the BBC the scale of the plans was huge.
– I am proud to say this is one of the biggest projects that we are carrying out in Africa.
BBC reports that there are worries about the impact of the project on Lamu district, which is one of East Africa’s most beautiful and relatively unspoiled environments along the Indian Ocean and includes a cultural heritage site on Lamu Island.
– Lamu is a living heritage. Already UNESCO has declared Lamu a World Heritage Site – as an endangered site, Mualimu Badi from the Save Lamu group told the BBC.
