The Shimoni Port Project Implementation Team has resolved to construct a new jetty for fish landing to avoid disrupting commercial activities at the existing old jetty.
The team made the resolution during a meeting chaired by Kwale County Commissioner (CC), Karuku Ngumo to deliberate preparations for the construction of the Shimoni fishing port.
The initial plan by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) was to upgrade the existing fish landing site in Shimoni but the plan has been shelved.
Ngumo said work to open up the 4.5 km road to access the Shimoni fish port has begun in earnest and that many structures would be brought down.
A Director at the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), Eliud Lelerai who attended the meeting urged the team to come up with a delivery chain of the project with various components and sub-components and identify the bottlenecks likely to occur for each of the drivers.
The KPA team was led by the Head of Projects Development and Management, William Tenay.
Engineer Tenay said KPA was aware of the need to set up a new jetty to enable large scale fishermen to land their catch.
He said that the Shimoni port is one of the key development projects in the authority’s 30 -year Master Plan.
Tenay said the project aimed at improving Kenya’s marine competitiveness as an investment hub, adding that the focus on the development of Shimoni port will be on fishing and other conventional cargo.
By Hussein Abdullahi
