Ongoing construction at the Lapsset corridor project. [Photo/vision2030.go.ke]
Lamu youth allied to the Jubilee Party want President Uhuru Kenyatta to ensure they get jobs at the ongoing Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project.The youth said they have no jobs and it would be proper for the government to directly absorb them into the county’s Lapsset project.Sadique Aziz of the Lamu Jobless Youth Organization said youth unemployment has been majorly blamed for insecurity and drug abuse in the county.Aziz who was speaking in Lamu Town on Wednesday said the Lapsset jobs should be given to youth in the county as it will seek to positively change the lives of the youth.“Even parents here are looking upon the Lapsset to save their children from drugs. When you are busy doing something, you don’t even get the time to think about drugs and that’s why we feel we shouldn’t be shortchanged here,” said Aziz.The youth want the national and county government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will ensure a certain percentage of employment opportunities during the construction of the first three terminals, that is estimated to cost Sh2.5 trillion is specifically set aside for the youth in Lamu.Ali Athman, a youth in the county, said it was unfair that majority of those employed as labourers at the Lapsset project were from other counties, and urged President Kenyatta to intervene and ensure youth from Lamu are given priority.“The Lapsset is in our county. Being the hosts means we should be the first beneficiaries in any given way. We need at least 60 percent of employment slots during construction of the port to go to the youth here,” said Athman.“As it is now, the majority of those employed as labourers are from other counties. Those from Lamu are just a handful and that’s unfair. We feel the project has already begun on a wrong footing but we hope the President can intervene and set things straight,” he added.