All Save Lamu’s attempt to contact the chairman of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Yi Huiman, via letters and emails in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been unfruitful and we are yet to receive any feedback from the Bank.

The letters express the Lamu community concerns on the proposed Lamu coal plant which ICBC is mentioned as the majority financier of the project.

ICBC has publicly supported the China’s Belt and Road Initiative, “a bid to enhance regional connectivity and embrace a brighter future”.

We have notified ICBC that the project has become extremely controversial in Kenya because of its failure to adequately and fully consult local communities, in addition to the well-known environmental and health impacts caused by coal consumption and therefore it was our hope that by informing ICBC of our concerns, there may arise opportunities for Kenyan and Chinese stakeholders to collectively resolve and address these concerns.

Our letters to ICBC (sent in December 2016, 2017 and 2018) have gone unanswered, and so local communities are growing increasingly distressed about how Chinese coal investment may negatively impact their livelihoods and well-being.

See the link below for the letters sent.

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