afrol News, 15 April - Kenya government will resume the construction of the second port at Lamu in February next year, Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakere has said. The project will be part of the US$22 billion development plan that includes railway lines, a pipeline, roads and airports to open up the northern part of the country and link the East Africa's biggest economy with Sudan and Ethiopia.

Minister Mwakere said the port of Lamu which will be bigger than Mombasa, will be partly financed by $45 million, the funding collected from the controversial sale of the Grand Regency, a luxury Nairobi hotel.

"Everything is under control, we should have the first ships calling at the Port of Lamu in Manda Bay by the end of 2011, when we shall have two or three berths ready to pick up or deliver cargo,” he said.

Minister Mwakwere also said there will be a highway and rail link joining Lamu with Lokichoggio, close to the border with Sudan in the northwest, and another to link it with Moyale in the north, close to the Ethiopian border.

Local newspaper, Daily Nation quoted minister saying :"Ethiopia has already constructed their railway line to Moyale and ours is under construction," he said.

There will also be major airports in Lamu, Isiolo, Lokichoggio and Moyale, the minister said, and an oil pipeline linking Sudan to the port.

Southern Sudan, which is due to vote in a referendum in 2011 on whether it wants to separate from the north, hopes to export some of its oil, while Kenya on the other side wants to import the oil.

Earlier this month, the World Bank approved an additional financing of US$253 million for the Kenyan government to complete the remaining contracts on the Northern Corridor project which will link Kenya’s capital with neighbouring Uganda and much of central African countries.

The approval adds up to $460 million of the Bank's support for the Northern Corridor Transport Improvement Project (NCTIP).

By staff writer

© afrol News

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