Civil societies in Lamu have joined calls for the compensation of fishermen affected by the newly opened Lamu port-LAPSSET.
On Sunday, over 40 civil society organisation under the umbrella body of the Save Lamu coalition, met to air their displeasure at the national government’s continued silence on the matter.
Dredging activities at the port caused the closure of many traditional fishing sites in the Indian ocean and subsequently rendered thousands of fisher folk without a source of livelihood.
Following a successful petition, the Malindi High Court in May, 2018 ruled in favour of the fishermen indicating that the project had failed to meet basic constitutional and legal requirements.
As such, the court awarded the fisher folk a compensation package of Sh1.76 billion to 4,734 fishermen as the port project violated the local community’s cultural rights.
They were to receive the monies before May 15 to pave way for the opening of the port on May 20.
That has however not happened leaving the fishermen feeling shortchanged.
Their demands to know what their fate is and when they will be paid hasn’t bore fruit as there hasn’t been communication from the government.
The civil societies have asked the Kenya Ports Authority to speed up compensation for the fishermen.
Save Lamu chairperson Mohamed Athman admonished the delayed compensation of the fishermen and termed it a deliberate provocation.
“The petition was filed in 2012. It’s been years of these fishermen waiting for their compensation even after the court ruled in their favour. The fact that the port didn’t appeal the ruling means that they need to respect it. Instead,they have been changing terms and conditions every time. This is unfair and they know it," said Athman.
He said initially, it had been agreed that the fishermen receive 80 per cent cash compensation while the remaining 20per cent was to be in the form of fishing infrastructure development.
“Currently they say they can only do 65 per cent in cash and 35 per cent on infrastructure. Because the fishermen want this process done with, they have agreed to their every change but still they won’t pay them,” he said.
Lamu Fishermen Association chairperson Mohamed Somo said thousands of fisher families continue to suffer from poverty challenges as their livelihoods have been greatly hampered by the port.
“The effects created by the port will be felt for decades to come and that is why we are urging them to conduct prompt compensation to enable affected fishermen survive,”said Somo.
Lamu Women Alliance chairperson Raya Famau said the Lamu Port has created harsh living conditions for the local community, including water shortage, environmental degradation, displacement of local wildlife and reduced farming activities.
She said women are now bearing the burden of providing for their families as their fishermen husbands have lost their jobs due to dredging at the port.
“Roles have been reversed and women have now been forced to provide for families as men have no jobs.We hope something is done soon,”she said.
Apart from the compensation stalemate, the Lamu Port project is still marred with various violations as affirmed by the High Court ruling in 2018.
They include lack of public participation in both the design and implementation of the project and its components and the right to a clean and healthy environment.
Others include interference with the traditional fishing rights and violation of the community’s cultural rights by failing to make an environmental monitoring and management plan even after several requests by the UNESCO.
-Edited by SKanyara
