LAMU, Kenya, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenya said Thursday the construction of an ambitious Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPPSET) corridor project is well underway.
David Maringa, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, said Kenya is currently pursuing the development of the appropriate road infrastructure connections that will connect the port to the rest of the LAPSSET corridor as well as other parts of the country and outside.
"We are happy that the port construction has taken shape very well and it's now at 42 percent complete. We appreciate the great support that the LAPSSET Corridor project has so far received from the local county and national governments plus all concerned agencies. I would like to say that we are all working together to deliver the port project," Maringa told journalists in Lamu.
The Lapsset Corridor Project plan includes a 32-berth port, transportation hubs for rail, highway and international airports in Lamu, Isiolo and Lodwar, an oil pipeline from South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia to Lamu Port, an oil refinery and three resort cities in Isiolo, Lamu and Turkana.
The entire port project is estimated to be worth 25 billion U.S. dollars, Maringa said, noting that the construction of the first three terminals is also underway with the first expected to be completed by end of June this year.
The other two berths in the initial phase are expected to be completed by end of the year 2022, according to Maringa. The entire three berths will cost 480 million dollars.
Sylvester Kasuku, the LAPSSET project Director General, said so far, 150 million dollars of the total budget had already been spent on design works and auxiliary facilities.
"The port construction project is taking shape very well and so far we have had to work within the confines of the plan. We have enough support from the government and other agencies," said Kasuku.
He said the LAPSSET portends huge economic and industrial benefits for Kenya and the East Africa region, adding that the port will open up Kenya to more and bigger trade opportunities and investments in Africa and globally.
The construction of the port headquarters that cost 8.7 million dollars and a police station is already complete, Kasuku said.
The government expects the LAPSSET to have impact on the livelihoods of 166 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and other East African countries.
With the intervening discovery of economically viable oil deposits in Lokichar, Turkana along the LAPSSET corridor, the proposed refinery and oil based infrastructure will automatically be able to refine oil mined from Turkana.
It has been suggested that the Lamu basin has a potential of generating up to 3.7 billion barrels of oil.
