State invites bids for Lamu port project

By Patrick Beja

MOMBASA,KENYA; The State has invited bids for the design and construction of three berths, part of the 32 to be constructed under the ambitious Lamu Port project. Transport minister Amos Kimunya said the tendering may be completed early next year when President Mwai Kibaki is expected to commission its construction.

“We expect the president to commission the project before proceeding to retirement,” Kimunya noted. He expressed concern that plans to train 1,000 youths from Lamu and provide them with jobs under this project had been experiencing difficulty because the recruitment committee had been unable to identify qualified people.

The Sh445.2 billion ($5.3billion) Port is part of the Sh2 trillion ($23 billion) transport corridor project, a key flagship project identified in the Vision 2030, to link Lamu to Ethiopia and newly-independent South Sudan. In April, Government completed the dredging of Mombasa port at a cost of about Sh7 billion which has attracted bigger ships.

It involved widening and deepening the channel and the ship turning basin and this has seen several bigger vessels  docking at the port. In June, experts from Japan concluded their public forums in preparation for the construction of the 17.5km southern bypass, locally known as the Dongo Kundu project.

The  road projects will have a 1.5km bridge, one of the longest bridges in Kenya, across the Mteza and Mwache creeks. About Sh25 billion has already been sourced for the project. “All is set for the construction of Dongo Kundu with one of the longest bridges in the country,” said Roads minister Franklin Bett recently in Mombasa.