The first phase of the 400MW Meru wind farm that was planned for completion in December this year, has been put on hold.
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In explaining the setbacks in the construction of the project, KenGen’s managing director, Albert Mugo, mentioned land rows as the cause.
“As you see in the documents, we await land arbitration so that we can deal with the legitimate land owners,” Mugo said.
The $6.6 million Meru wind farm is intended to contribute to the nation’s economic development and mitigating climate change, reported the press.
The Meru Wind Farm project is also visualized to contribute towards the sustainable national energy matrix by producing clean safe electrical energy while avoiding the generation of carbon emissions
In efforts to hasten up the demarcation process of the disputed land, it is reported that government has set aside a budget of US $58,000.
The process was estimated to be finished within two months to let the firm to build the plant this year, media stated.
However, this has faced a huge blow after Meru Governor Peter Munya put an embargo to bring to a standstill the process.
“Those claiming to be committee members have not been gazetted. Whatever they are doing in the land is unlawful. If we let them to carry on with the unlawful process, the poor will be deprived of their land,” Munya said.
The governor said he will only let the process to go on once a comprehensive land committee is constituted.
According to the media, Munya said the legitimate land owners should be given a two-week notice before meeting to select a committee that will supervise the subdivision of the land.
It is reported that the region has been in a clash of interest from many shareholders since the power company branded it for the mega project.
The project will sit on an 18,700-acre-piece of land in Tigania East Sub County, a region which is situated few metres from the Isiolo international airport that is also seen as an avenue for the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (Lapsset) Corridor project.
