Plans to build a second port for Kenya gained momentum last week when a high-powered delegation toured Lamu. But the Government will have to contend with protests by the local community before occupying the Manda site in Lamu, about 250 kilometres from Mombasa.

Construction will begin next year, when two out of 22 berths are built on a four-kilometre quayside in the project that will take five years. More than 6,000 families likely to be displaced by the project are demanding compensation for land and other properties while local fishermen fear losing fish breeding grounds and a livelihood.

The advantage of opening up a major port in Lamu, is because the waters are 18 metres deep compared to 13 metres at the Mombasa port.

The move to Lamu means the work would require minimal dredging. Besides, there is an open sea which can be easily reclaimed and which allows many ships to dock as opposed to Mombasa, which is located in a creek that allows entry of one ship at a go. However, when Transport Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere led the high-powered team to meet communities in Lamu, tension was high at a public forum, when a group of youths protested against the project.

Waving placards, they took issue with the Government for failing to empower Lamu people economically. "We have continued to be squatters on our own land. The project can only kick-off if land issues are addressed conclusively," said Abdallah Swaleh, a resident. Despite the protests, leaders and residents who spoke at the forum called for the community's full participation in the project from inception.

Police thwarted efforts by the protesters to gain entry into the meeting venue when they stood at the gates to the Lamu Fort. Present were Assistant Transport minister Harun Mwau, Kenya Ports Authority managing director, James Mulewa, Kenya Maritime Authority director general, Nancy Karigithu, Government adviser for the Lamu port Mutula Kilonzo and Lamu District commissioner Stephen Ikua.

Others are KPA chairman Shukri Baramadi, and minister for Northern Kenya and Other Arid Lands Mr Mohamed Elmi. Construction work on the second port in Lamu will cover 1,000 acres of land off the Manda Bay in Lamu District.

Lamu County Council chairman, Hassan Abdalla A-Baity, wants a committee to be set up to allocate plots to residents who will be displaced by the project, fishermen to be trained and plans be put in place to contain the influx of people into Lamu as a result of the new project. The port project estimated to cost Sh273 billion, will also serve as a trade corridor from Lamu to Juba in Southern Sudan after a standard gauge rail-track is constructed.

"The port's conceptual development plans will be complete this year," Kilonzo said. Most of the vessels calling at the Lamu port will be the large Post-Panamax type.

Several investors, like Qatar, United Arab Emirates, the US, China and India have shown willingness to finance various project components that include an oil refinery and terminal and an international airport. Other ports that had been earmarked, Mwakwere said, were Kilifi and Shimoni.