LAMU Governor Issa Timamy has banned vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles from operating on Amu Island to preserve its heritage.
Speaking at Lamu Fort on Sunday, he gave the owners up to end-month to vacate their automobiles or have them confiscated by the government and charged.
“Lamu Old Town is now a heritage site and it should stay that way. We only need donkeys and that’s final,” Timamy said.
He said western and modern elements threaten to erode the status of the island.
Amu island was listed as a world heritage site by Unesco.
The governor said the growing number of vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles are not part of the island's heritage.
Timamy said Lamu is known to be a reservoir of its past rich cultural heritage for ages.
However, some residents are introducing certain lifestyles that don’t favour the site, he said.
For decades, the main mode of transport has been donkeys, which are used to ferry both people and goods.
Timamy said the new modes of transport cause traffic snarl-ups on the already tiny island.
“This island is meant for those on foot or donkeys. Nothing less or more than that,” he said.
"With these other transport modes, traffic is becoming an unwanted nightmare."
Timamy said residents and visitors must realise that the island is a heritage site and must stay that way.
The Lamu Archipelago has more than 65 islands and a coastline that stretches about 130 kilometres.
Lamu Old Town is renowned worldwide as a region with rich cultural heritage and history.
It prides itself as being one of the oldest and best preserved living settlements among the Swahili towns on the East African Coast.
The only permissible mode of transport is by donkey or foot since any other mode is forbidden in the heritage site.
The town has also preserved past cultures that pinpoint the past lives of Africans, Arabs Indians and trades that existed before.
The archipelago has, however, also been listed on the World Monument Fund Watch List.
It is listed as a site that is under threat from the forces of nature and the impact of social, political and economic change.
Timamy said the county government is taking measures to step up preservation of historic sites, monuments and cultural heritage.