Leaders in Mombasa have called for transparency in the approval and allocation of land to investors seeking to set up business at the upcoming Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) project.

The demand comes as Investment, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya acknowledged that compensation challenges involving 1,648 individuals affected by the project are slowing down the project’s take off.

Following a closed-door progress update meeting at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) headquarters, Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki decried the lack of transparency in the process.

He specifically cited the case of Tanzanian investor Rostam Aziz, who owns Taifa Gas Company which he claimed was granted land “secretly” to establish a $130.5 million liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plant at Dongo Kundu last year.

Allocating land

“We need transparency on investors who will come to invest in Dongo Kundu. Let there be no secrets in allocating land for the investments. The investors should be clearly known and the kind and size of investments they want to undertake. Up to now we have seen that those given green light to invest there is only Taifa Gas which was shrouded in secrecy,” Faki said.

But Mvurya said the government is racing against time to resolve some of the challenges entangling the project including the compensation hiccups, to help unlock the SEZ’s potential.

“One of the update that we have given the leaders is that KPA as an implementing agency has already been funding at a tune of Sh1.4 billion to conclude the compensation programme that is going on and in the next one month, all the issues of compensation will have been concluded,” Mvurya said:

“The compensation is going to take place in two fronts. One is that the 1,648 affected will be allocated some land and given support to develop their new areas. Already 430 acres have been identified for the compensation.”

According to Mvurya, the compensation process is currently holding progress of a number of investments under the SEZ.

With the compensations equation still unresolved, the CS is of the view that a development of the required horizontal infrastructure such including roads, water and power station becomes a challenge, further slowing down the progress.