Isiolo leaders call for Lapsset to be re-routed

A section of Isiolo County leaders have said they want the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) corridor project that traverses the county re-routed.

The leaders, including Isiolo governor Godana Doyo, claim the current route passes through conflict-prone areas along the Meru and Isiolo county boundary.

Mr Doyo proposed re-routing of the corridor to pass through Garba Tulla, Boji and directly link to Lodwar through Merti and extend to Ethiopia.

The actual design of the corridor was to pass through Garba Tulla- Kulamawe-Ngaremara (near Isiolo town) towards Lokichar and Marsabit.

Addressing a meeting between the county government and the Lapsset Authority Tuesday, Mr Doyo suggested that the government should consider having the additional airport, dry port, resort city, oil refinery and rail station along the proposed new route.

At the same time, Isiolo Assembly Speaker Mohammed Tubi accused the government of pushing infrastructure projects - including an international abattoir, resort city, international airport and the Lapsset corridor - to the western side of the county.

“Why did the authority divert the project from its central point in Kulamawe to pass through Isiolo town where there are rampant land wrangles yet it could have gone through Isiolo North towards Ethiopia which is shorter?” posed Mr Tubi.

“In order to minimise conflicts and other negative effects, we request that the Lapsset implementing authority re-route the corridor. We have plenty of land and are planning to set aside the required space,” said Mr Doyo.

Consultation

The leaders further faulted the national government for failure to consult them before mapping and instead pushing all projects to the western side of Isiolo which borders Mt Kenya.

Isiolo is the main hub that connects the standard gauge railway to Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan.

In their arguments, they said the proposed Isiolo resort city in Kipsing would have serious conservation impact on wildlife protected area since it nears Buffalo, Samburu and Shaba national reserves.

“Isiolo International Airport is one of the Lapsset projects which is nearing completion. No environmental impact assessment was carried out before implementation. We are afraid that Lapsset corridor will have a negative impact on conservation,” said Mr Doyo.

The mega project is expected to open up Kenya’s northern frontier to more trade and investments.

Initially, some residents of Isiolo had raised concern over lack of consultation, demanding that the government compensates them before embarking on the Vision 2030 flagship project.

The mega infrastructure projects include international airports, an oil pipeline, oil refinery and three resort cities in Lamu, Isiolo and Turkana.

Deny conspiracy

Lapsset Authority chairman Francis Muthaura, who was accompanied by director-general Silvester Kasuku, said the project aims to solve infrastructure deficit in northern Kenya.

They denied claims of conspiracy by Mt Kenya leadership to divert all projects to their region.

Mr Kasuku told the leaders to present their proposals detailing the locations for assessment.

“We have already mapped the corridor, but our strategic environmental team will visit the proposed areas for assessment before finalising our plans,” said Mr Kasuku.

He urged the leaders to reconsider their proposal on relocation of the proposed Isiolo resort city saying proper assessment ought to be established to enable tourists’ access to national reserves.