The government has defended construction of a Sh9 million security sea wall in the port town of Shimoni in Kwale county.
It will be open by day to allow movement and closed at night for security.
A section of residents is fiercely opposed.
The residents, who protested in the town on Sunday, demanded the immediate demolition of the 300-metre long wall which is nearing completion.
They claim it is unnecessary as it blocks their view of the sea and makes the sea inaccessible by fishermen.
They said gave the Kenya Ports Authority, which is responsible for the construction, a one-week ultimatum to bring the wall down.
Otherwise, they will take unspecified action.
Lunga Lunga deputy county commissioner Josephat Biwott said the wall was necessary for security. He said residents were involved through public participation, contrary to claims the project was imposed on them.
Biwott said the wall will help curb cross-border smuggling common in the town near the Tanzania border. It will also help fight terrorism because militants will find it hard to come ashore.
The Rural Border Patrol Unit proposed the wall to improve security, as part of multi-agency efforts.
"There were consultations involving residents before the project was started and only a few of them are being incited to oppose it by a certain individual who is pursuing personal interests related to land in the area,” Biwott told the Star on the phone.
Squatters had encroached on the project site, he said.
Biwott also said the project was part of the transformation of the Shimoni waterfront into a recreational area and a tourism destination.
“Some residents even turned the seafront into a garbage dumping site and the wall will curb this and promote a clean beach," he said.
Residents' spokesman Bakari Mbwana claimed the project was being forced on them. He said they rejected it from the beginning because it would be a barrier to sea accessibility and interfering with fishing and boat transport.
At least 1,000 fishermen are affected as the wall has been built partly on an area where they repair their boats.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
