This archive report was first published on 10 July 2019.
Published on July 10, 2019, the National Environment Tribunal's decision to revoke Amu Power Company's licence to build the Lamu Coal Power Plant is a welcome move. It shows the Tribunal took into account all the environmental arguments that were overwhelmingly against the project, and in the face of State and other pressures.
Robert Shaw, a seasoned observer of the project, attended several hearings and was struck by how damaging such a project would be. He notes that the health, welfare, and livelihood of the region would be damaged and stunted, with health facilities facing a surge in patients with environment-related maladies.
While the project has been halted, the proponents have been told to undertake a new environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) as the previous one was flawed and inadequate. However, a fresh ESIA licence would be highly unlikely, and the various lobbies must remain hawk-eyed on the latter.
Robert Shaw advises the proponents of the project to accept the ruling and call it a day, as a new, more thorough, and professional ESIA would almost certainly deny them another licence. He argues that the project is a veritable white elephant with little or no redeeming features, including job creation, which Amu Power CEO Cyrus Kirima keeps trotting out.
Mr. Kirima's jobs mantra sounds bogus when put in the perspective of the overall employment picture, and the project would blight two of the region's biggest employers: Tourism and fishing. Lamu is one of Kenya's prime tourism gems and should be regarded as sacred, with the direct and indirect employment opportunities it creates far outnumbering what would be gained from the coal plant.
Like the SGR, the terms and conditions of the project require inordinate quantities of Chinese input, not least in terms of labour. The needed skilled labour may well come from outside Lamu as it is unlikely to be available locally. Moreover, the change in Chinese policy on such infrastructural projects would show that this project is not viable, just as with the SGR project from Duka Moja to Kisumu.
Kenya does not need extra power, with enough coming on stream to accommodate our energy demands for the next 12 years or more. Revised government projections show this. Why dirty coal energy when we have a clean energy mix of hydro, geothermal, and wind, and little pockets of solar on the way?
