Religious leaders in Lamu have come out in one voice in the fight against the Shs.200 billion coal power plant project set to be constructed in the area of Kwasasi in Lamu County.

(Lamu interfaith leaders during a press briefing at the Lamu Fort)

Speaking during the interfaith forum held at the Mkunguni area Save Lamu chairman Abubakar said that they are in support of developing projects coming to Lamu like the Lamu Port, Oil and Gas exploration in Pate and not the Coal power plant, which is not environmental friendly. He however added by saying that the coal project is outdated technology, thus calls for the investor to come up with an alternative source of generating power which are greener and environmental friendly.

“Before implementation of any project an EIA report must be produced before NEMA issues license” said Said Salim  environmentalist from Natural Justice during the interfaith forum, which brought together religious leaders from all over the County of Lamu. Relating to issue of coal Said however added by saying that the dirty energy will cause air, water and soil pollution thus life expectancy of the people living near the project will drop because of diseases like asthma, cancer  which will be brought as a result of  burning coal and environmental destructions that will be caused by the plant once operational.

Lamu County Interfaith Chairperson Ibrahim Shahibu says that they will campaign against the coal project as religious leaders in order to protect the next generations in Lamu and Kenya as a whole from the dirty energy that will bring alot of negative impacts to communities.

The religious leaders however calls for President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider the voice of the people of Lamu and bring renewable sources of generating power like the geothermal, solar and wind unlike the proposed coal power plant which threatens the future generation.

According to the investor, the lifespan of the coal Project is 25 years before its shut down, leaving the Land area where the plant was operational to be less productive for agricultural activities thus causing livelihoods of the people living within the site to go down with a large margin.

The proposed coal plant project is currently facing opposition from huge number of residents in Lamu, Save Lamu has been doing advocacy meetings to engage the public on the impacts of the project.

 

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