By Winnie Kamau
Lamu, Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta today commissioned the 114km Garsen-Witu- Lamu road that is part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project.
The LAPPSET corridor will connect to the Lamu Port which will now be the largest Port in Sub-Saharan Africa after the Durban Port in South Africa once in full operation. The Lamu port is expected to be handling over 24 million containers annually which will make it the 4th busiest port in the world.
Currently, the busiest ports are Shanghai China handles 42.1 Million, while Port of Singapore handles 36.6 Million, the port of Shenzhen, China handles 27.74 million. Ningbo-Zhousan, China 26.35, Guangzhou habor 21.87 million and Busan-South Korea 21.66 million.
With the completed transport corridor connecting the Lamu-Moyale- Turkana corridor will see the opening up of the two landlocked countries in Ethiopia and South Sudan opening up and having ripple effects on the other countries in the North.
President Uhuru commissioned the 114km road while he was on his way to preside the operationalization of one of the largest Port in Africa and Eastern Africa.
Other roads that have been concluded include the Isiolo- Marsabit- Moyale section of 505km is fully completed while the remaining 338km section beteen Lokichar-Lodwar and Nakodok is expected to complete by the end of the year.
While the Isiolo-Moyale-Hawassa road section is complete while the construction of the Moyale Hawassa on the Ethiopian side is still a work in progress according to LAPPSET Authority.
The construction of the Lamu – Garissa – Isiolo road is a priority deliverable since it is the most efficient offtake route.
Some of the expected benefits with the completion of the Nairobi-Moyale route is set to reduce the travel time from about 3 days down to 10 hours. Previously, bus travelers made two night stopovers during the journey from Moyale to Nairobi at Marsabit and Isiolo.
The Garsen-Witu Lamu road will facilitate the movement of cargo in and out of the new USD 310 million deep sea Lamu port.
