Kentrade pledges support for Lamu Port venture

Kentrade Chairman Suleiman Shahbal views the Port's berths under construction.

The Kenya Trade Network Agency (Kentrade) has commended progress work at the construction of the Lamu Port first three berths and pledged to offer support.

Speaking after a site visit at the Port under construction in Lamu, Kentrade chairman, Mr Sulieman Shahbal said that Kentrade will market and provide capacity whenever called upon to do so.

''From what I have seen, I am impressed with the progress of the project so far, and we at Kentrade are looking forward to its completion and operationalisation .The new Port will be a game-changer in the region's economy as it will significantly enhance trade facilitation,'' Shahbal said.

Shahbal expressed hope that the connectivity to the Port will be done in time to serve the purpose of the port.

Shahbal was taken round the construction site by Eng Jimmy Tuqida, Deputy Project manager of China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) and Acting Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Lamu Jetty Superintendent, Mr Abdishukri Osman.

CCCC, the contractors building the Lamu Port said that they will soon complete the construction of the first three berths of the flagship Vision 2030 project at Kililana area.

CCCC said that it has so far covered 62 per cent of the work on the three berths and will hand over to the government and KPA by the end of 2019.

The project was launched in 2012 by retired President Mwai Kibaki, the late Ethiopian Prime Minister Ato Meles Zenawi and South Sudan President Salvar Kiir Mayardit.

The port is being built at Manda Bay, which juts out towards the islands of Pate, Manda and Lamu and the location is chosen for its size and deep waters capable of accommodating jumbo-sized ships.

The port facility which will serve landlocked Ethiopia,South Sudan and Northern Kenya has been hailed by Lamu leaders and residents as a game changer in the economic dynamics of the Kenya’s north Coast and the region as a whole.

Expert engineers said that the development of the three berths at the more sheltered Manda Bay is crucial for the importation of building materials for the other project components.

The mega port project will position Lamu as an important trans-shipment hub and is poised to handle crude and refined oil and oil products from South Sudan and has the potential to impact on the livelihoods of citizens of Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

The new port is slated to commence operations in 2020 when the first three berths out of the planned 32 berths would be completed.

There are a total of 855 Kenyans including 13 engineers and 150 Chinese nationals are working round the clock to deliver the strategic project within the stipulated time frame.

The government is wholly financing the construction of the first three berths (sh 45 billion) with the rest expected to be financed by the private sector under a public private sector framework.

The national government is set to invite private investors to bid for the construction of the remaining 29 proposed berths along the ocean coastline”, said the engineer.

The first three berths which are expected to be in operation in 2020 will handle 1.2 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and when fully operational will handle 20 million TEUs.

The berths will be capable of handling crude oil carriers with dead weight tonnage of up to 200,000 tones and a capacity of two million barrels of crude.