“Chinese companies are here because Kenyan government invited them to invest here and do this project, therefore we only do what we are allowed to do because we follow the diplomatic principles strictly,” said Wu/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 28- Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Wu Peng says China will respect Kenyans’ decision on the construction of the Lamu coal plant.
Wu said this on Friday when he met a group of NGOs who had called on him, days after the court ruled stopped its construction due to lack of sufficient public participation and Environmental Impact Assessment.
“Kenyan people are the final decision makers in this project and the Chinese government respects that,” the Ambassador said, and clarified that China as a government is not involved in the project, that was to be undertaken by Amu Power and some Chinese firms providing technical support.
Prior to the court ruling, the activists had held protests in the capital Nairobi against the project, marching to the Energy Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter’s office before they were dispersed while demonstrating to the embassy.
“Chinese companies are here because Kenyan government invited them to invest here and do this project, therefore we only do what we are allowed to do because we follow the diplomatic principles strictly,” said Wu.
According to William Sharify, a business director at Power China, they signed a contract with Amu Power in June 2015 but have not commenced any work.
“None of the Chinese companies has done any actual work for the project,” he said.
Sharify said they had agreed to take part in the project because green energy is still expensive and any developing country cannot entirely rely on renewable energy to develop.
The organizations that met the Ambassador on Friday include Decoalonize Lamu, Greenpeace Africa, Save Lamu community and Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance/COURTESY
He also allayed fears of its adverse effects on the environmental, saying there is clean coal whose aim is to reduce the negative environmental impact in the process of power generation from coal.
The organizations that met the Ambassador on Friday include Decoalonize Lamu, Greenpeace Africa, Save Lamu community and Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance.
According to the NGOs, the coal project will have a negative impact on the country’s air quality, with accompanying adverse impacts on human health and biodiversity.
They further contended that the project will contribute to adverse climate change which is inconsistent with Kenya’s low carbon development goals and commitments.
On Wednesday, the Energy Cabinet Secretary told journalists that the project shall incorporate the latest technologies to avoid adverse environmental effects.
“As a government, we need to diversify, the people who are talking about coal, they should know that there is clean coal and it is like the nuclear and technology has been progressively been improved to the latest technology of ultra-sound and there is no need to get worried,” he said.
He appeared confident of the project, even saying Kenya will be able to export extra power to other countries, but that statement did not last three hours before the court nullified the project.
“We want to compete with other nations like just what happens on stock exchange, all we need to do is focus more on the advantages of boosting our economy through the project and leave out the issues which we are focused to address,” Keter said before the court ruling.
The plant has been in its planning stages for close six years and has faced opposition from activists and local communities.
In stopping the project, the National Environment Tribunal observed that environmental concerns raised by locals are valid.
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