A Kenyan court has organized a temporary halt to activities at the proposed Dangote Refinery in Lamu County following a legal counter by farmers and residents of Chandavai, who alleged forceful eviction and destruction of their properties.
The Malindi Environment and Land Court directed that the “condition quo prevailing” be maintained pending greater hearing of the case.
The sequence was issued on September 25 by Justice Jane Onyango and made community on Monday, together with the court expected to offer additional directions on October 14, according to a Bloomberg describe.
A lawyer representing the petitioners, George Wakahiu, told Bloomberg that the command means construction activities on the project should not commence ahead of the October 14 hearing.
The petitioners alleged that the refinery project involved “forceful eviction of the plaintiffs from their lands, damage and destruction of their properties and yet there is no resettlement strategy for them.”
They additionally alleged that Dangote and the Kenyan authorities had failed to comply together with Kenya’s environmental laws requiring “a mandatory environmental effect assessment be done earlier than the implementation of any significant project.”
According to the court filings, the proposed refinery moreover allegedly failed to encounter constitutional requirements for “essential society participation” prior to the project could develop.
Yet, the Dangote Fixed said the court had not stopped the groundbreaking ceremony for the refinery.
In a declaration reported by Reuters on Tuesday, the conglomerate said activities at the proposed refinery site could be affected by the court sequence pending the October 14 hearing.
“The court has not halted the groundbreaking ceremony of the refinery at this stage. Yet, activities at the site may be affected by the ruling, as both parties are required not to carry out activities before the case is heard on 14th October,” the declaration read.
The clarification came days in advance of the planned September 30 groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed 700,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery in Lamu.
The development comes following Kenyan President William Ruto said his administration was swift-tracking administrative processes for the proposed Dangote refinery.
Ruto made the disclosure on Friday during a tour of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, ahead of the planned groundbreaking ceremony in Kenya.
The Kenyan President said his government had already secured the land for the project and was operating on other requirements to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and confirm that construction and subsequent operations were not delayed.
He described the proposed refinery as a territorial project that would lengthen industrial activities in East Africa, produce employment opportunities and strengthen the engineering skills of the region’s workforce.
Meanwhile, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, said the planned Kenyan facility would be bigger than the demonstrate Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Nigeria.
The proposed Lamu refinery is expected to have a production capacity of 700,000 barrels per day.
Source: Kenyan Court Halts Dangote Refinery Construction, Firm Says Groundbreaking Still Holds
