Lamu Port is set to be operational by June this year. LAPSSET chairperson Maj Gen (Rtd) Titus Ibui confirmed the report and said that the port will begin clearing Ethiopian cargo by 15 June this year.
“The government is keen to complete the project and start clearing Ethiopian cargo from Lamu port. We travelled by road from Mombasa to Garissa to inspect the project. The progress is good. The road between Lamu and Garsen is complete,” said Ibui.
“We have contractors on the ground in other areas to make sure by June we will have our first exports to Southern parts of Ethiopia, Hawassa Industrial Park and Adama Industrial Park which specialize in textile, motor vehicle assembly and food processing,” he added.
Lamu port
The natural deep-sea port is part of the Sh2.5 trillion Lamu-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) project launched in 2012. The major players in the port equipment market include Liebherr (Switzerland), TTS (Norway), Kalmar (Finland), Konecranes (Finland), Sany (China) and Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) (China). Others are Hyster (US), Lonking (China), CVS Ferrari (Italy), Anhui Heli (China), and Famur Famak (Poland), among others.
Construction of the first three berths of the planned 32-berth Lamu Port, has been completed at a cost of Sh 71.2bn. It is being developed by China Communication Construction Company (CCCC). The government put up the first three while the rest extended to financiers and private sector for development.
World’s largest container shipping company, Maersk is among those that are eyeing Lamu Port, a boost to the facility which is slowly getting international maritime players attention. Kenya is counting on the LAPSSET corridor to open up trade with her Northern neighbours, mainly Ethiopia and South Sudan.
