• The committee now wants the government to provide an updated map of Lamu and its enlarged buffer zone.
• The committee also needs full details of the scope of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport project, including the Lamu resort city, and clarification of fishing plans, mangrove planting, and surveys of coastal morphology.
Unesco's World Heritage Committee has criticised the Kenyan government for providing limited information on the state of conservation of Lamu Old Town.
In its draft decision the committee which is in its 43rd session in Baku, Azerbaijan had found that Lamu Old Town is “under potential danger” due to the advancement of Lapsset.
It is the failure of the government to supply information about the Lapsset projects' impacts and mitigation measures that has frustrated the committee.
The committee now wants the government to provide an updated map of Lamu and its enlarged buffer zone.
The map should include the whole of the Lamu Archipelago and at a minimum the whole of Lamu and Manda Islands.
The committee also needs full details of the scope of the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport project, including the Lamu resort city, and clarification of fishing plans, mangrove planting, and surveys of coastal morphology.
It further wants Heritage Impact Assessment for the Manda airport extension, Lapsset planning and investment framework.
Revised management plan and an assessment of the condition of the built fabric of Lamu Old Town is also needed.
An overview of how Lamu has developed since the 2001 inscription onto the World Heritage List is also needed.
Already, the government's proposed Sh200 billion Lamu coal power plant has hit a snag.
The National Environment Tribunal on June 26 revoked a licence issued by the National Environmental Management Authority for the power plant.
The tribunal ruled Nema failed to consider its own regulations when issuing the license to Amu Power, the contractor.
“There was a casual approach by Nema in such a serious project, they, therefore, failed to carry out their mandate as required by law,” the tribunal ruled.
The committee further needs a revised management plan for Lamu Island as well as a review of all government and independent environmental and heritage impact assessments of the Lapsset project and the Lamu coal plan.
The reviews must be submitted to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible, and by February 1, 2020.
(edited by O. Owino)