• Leaders presented proposal at the BBI rally in Mombasa last week on Saturday as one of the 16-point resolutions of residents.
• Coast has seen first-hand effects of the SGR project; business community goes on weekly protests against state's SGR-only cargo haulage directive.
Coast leaders want to know the major socio-economic damage that major national projects have o local communities.
They want a commission that will assess and mitigate the negative impact of such projects.
One of 16 resolutions during last Friday’s Coast delegates conference at the Wild Waters in Mombasa was the establishment of an independent Social and Economic Impact Assessment Commission.
Jomvu MP Badi Twalib, who came up with the proposal, said this will cushion not only residents of the Coast but also other regions where national projects have had unexpected adverse effects.
The commission, if approved, would also be mandated to recommend compensation packages for families affected by the projects.
“Major projects should not be to the detriment of other jobs unless there is an adequate compensation mechanism. For example, the standard gauge railway. Transporters have been crying foul,” Twalib said.
The Coast region has seen, first-hand, the negative effects of the SGR billed as the biggest transport infrastructure project in the country’s history.
Positive aspects of the project including reduced travel time and costs for passengers, mean it becomes the preferred mode of transport, taking a huge percentage of motorists and passengers off the road.
This has resulted in diminished business and loss of income for truck and bus owners and job loss for drivers, turn boys and truck loaders.
According to the Kenya Transporters Association, more than 3,000 people have lost their jobs since August last year when the government issued a directive that all cargo destined for the hinterland be transported via SGR, with rare exceptions.
The government now claims it's not mandatory but has not de-gazetted the directive, giving rise to weekly demonstrations.
These include drivers, turn boys and truck loaders and clearing agents are affected.
Traders along the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway also experience dwindling business because of the decreased number of trucks on the roads.
Business was brisk for Boniface Mutwiri, who runs a roadside shop at Mtito Andei, before the advent of the SGR.
Buses and trucks plying through the town made stopovers to allow drivers and passengers’ time for refreshments.
“Before the advent of SGR train services, travellers flocked this town and I made daily sales of over Sh10,000. Now, earnings have dropped to as little as Sh3,000 daily. Business is bad,” he said.
Jackson Musau who runs a butchery and Nyama choma eatery said, “Truck drivers and turn boys were my main customers but only a few visit my meat joint because the SGR cargo train put most of them out of business,” Musau said.
It is these people who should be compensated by the proposed commission, MP Twalib said.
KTA chairman Dennis Ombok says forcing importers to transport their cargo via SGR is costly.
He says it costs an average of Sh80,000 to transport a 20- or 40-foot container from Mombasa to Nairobi via road.
The SGR costs an average of Sh90,000 for the same, he said.
He broke down the SGR figure into a transportation cost of Sh50,000, a handling fee of Sh5,000, a last-mile cost of Sh25,000, and the empty container return charge of Sh10,000.
The last-mile charge is the cost of transporting the container to its final actual destination after being cleared at the Inland Container Depot in Embakasi, Nairobi.
In Kasese village, Makueni county, residents have been forced to abandon their houses, which are at risk of collapse, and farms, which have been destroyed because of heavy rains and floods.
They say the floods are a result of the SGR which passes near the village, and whose construction has altered the course of a nearby river.
In Mombasa, the SGR directive has led to weekly protests known as 'Black Mondays' for the last four months, disrupting traffic and business.
Making the findings of the social and economic impact assessment public by the proposed commission would make the government take responsibility for their projects and effects, the Coast leaders said.
Edited by R.Wamochie