A worker loads coal onto a truck at the Sanyuan mine in China. The Lamu
coal plant is meant to open Kenya’s northern frontier as well as
increase Kenya’s power generation capacity. PHOTO | FILE
By KIARIE NJOROGE, gkiarie@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
The number of Chinese workers in Kenya’s crowded
labour market is set to increase significantly when construction of
Lamu’s coal power plant begins later this year, official reports
indicate.
A Chinese developer contracted by the consortium that won
the contract to build and operate the plant has said it plans to hire
1,400 Chinese for the task, highlighting the extent to which Kenya’s
mega infrastructure projects are dependent on Chinese labour.
Regulatory filings by Amu Power Company — the
consortium that won the tender for the Sh200 billion plant — show that
the Chinese will constitute 40 per cent of the workforce that will build
the 1,050 megawatt power generator.
Amu has contracted Chinese firm, Power Construction
Corporation (PowerChina) to build the plant, reflecting Chinese
contractors’ preference to bring in technical personnel from their home
country for similar projects.
The plant, which is located 21km north of Lamu town
in the Kwasasi area and set on 975.4 acres, is part of the Lamu Port
South Sudan Ethiopia (Lapsset) transport corridor plan that is meant to
open Kenya’s northern frontier as well as increase Kenya’s power
generation capacity.
“The proposed coal-fired power plant will require
about 3,500 workers during the peak construction period. Of this number,
about 60 per cent of the jobs will be taken up by Kenyans while
approximately 40 per cent will be taken up by foreigners, mainly from
China,” Amu Power says in its submission to the National Environment
Management Authority (Nema).
Chinese workers have increasingly become part of
infrastructure and real estate projects in Kenya and the power plant
personnel represent a further diversification to other economic
sectors.
Most Chinese workers in Kenya are involved in the
construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), key roads such as the
Southern and Northern bypasses as well as real estate projects like the
41-floor Hazina Towers and a 22-storey tower at the University of
Nairobi.
The Nema report further shows that the number of
employees, during the 25-year operational phase of the power plant, will
be evenly split between the Chinese and Kenyan workers.
The power plant will require 500 full-time employees, meaning that about 250 Chinese technicians will be retained.
The importation of personnel has been deemed
necessary due to a shortage of technical staff in Kenya and the need to
have a healthy mix of workers who understand the Chinese standards for
the projects.
Kenyans have previously protested the labour
importation, forcing the SGR contractor in 2014 to reduce the number of
Chinese workers it had planned to hire from 5,000 to 2,500.
The Nema report further lays out the technical
details of the plant, including the coal consumption and its possible
impact on the environment.
The report says the plant will consume
approximately 3.6 million tonnes of coal every year, most of which
will be shipped in through the Lamu Port.
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