Mombasa governor hopeful Suleiman Shahbal (2ND L) enjoys a light moment with Deputy President William Ruto in Miritini, Mombasa during the commissioning of the SGR passenger train on Wednesday. [Photo: Suleiman Shahbal/ facebook.com]
Mombasa gubernatorial aspirant Suleiman Shahbal has laughed off allegations that Mombasa port workers will be rendered unemployed when the SGR line extends to Naivasha.
Shahbal said the claims are aimed at discrediting the Jubilee administration’s successes in the county that overwhelmingly voted for opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2013.President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday launched the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line cargo train before unveiling on Wednesday the passenger locomotive that will operate between the port city of Mombasa and Nairobi.He said his government’s next agenda with regard to infrastructural development is extending the SGR line to Naivasha and Kisumu.“Some myths are being spun around concerning the SGR, most of which are laughable including that of Mombasa port employees losing jobs to Naivasha dry port. Truth is Kenya already has dry ports in Nairobi, Eldoret and Kisumu and port workers have never reduced,” Shahbal said on Thursday after the SGR passenger train inauguration in Miritini, Mombasa.“For the record, no single job will be lost, actually, more will be created due to efficiencies out of fast clearance of cargo and turnaround time of ships, which means international shipping lines would prefer calling at Mombasa port as they do not have to waste time due to inefficiencies such as port container congestion. So Mombasa and Kenya in general, will make more money due to more business and more dollars.”Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has been categorical the SGR project does not reflect the value of money injected into it. He says the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR line construction budget was inflated by Sh100 billion, claims the government says are false.Joho has also been bitter with President Uhuru Kenyatta over the decision to establish a dry port in Naivasha. He claims since container clearance will be done in Naivasha town after the SGR extension to the Nakuru-based town, no more cargo clearance will be done in Mombasa. This, he argues will render clearances workers most of who are Mombasa residents unemployed.