LAMU, March 2: Kenya launched the construction of a massive port, railway and refinery on Friday near a UNESCO-listed Indian Ocean island in a project it bills as the biggest ever in an African nation.Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir unveiled a plaque in a ceremony to mark the official start of building work near Lamu island in Kenya's southeast.

“I have no doubt that this day will go down in history as one of the defining moments, when we made a major stride to connect our people to the many socio-economic opportunities that lie ahead,” Kibaki said.

The project will provide the “landlocked countries of our region with a direct and dependable route to the sea” and help connect “the entire east and central African region to international markets,” he added.

Nairobi hopes the $24.5 billion (18.5-billion-euro) project will turn the east African country into a regional economic hub and propel it to become a middle-income economy in the next two decades.

Dancers and singers marked the formal start of construction at the inauguration at a muddy Indian Ocean shore where pristine mangrove forest is already being cleared.

The port to be constructed with 32 berths and be connected to Ethiopia and oil-rich South Sudan by a super-highway, a railway and a pipeline to export Juba's crude.

The project is expected to be funded by regional financial institutions, governments and international lenders, with China believed to have a major stake.

Kibaki, in a speech thanking organizations including the World Bank, African Development Bank and African Union, singled out China as being “extremely supportive” of the project.

However, Lamu residents protest that the huge port, although located some 10 kilometres (six miles) from the UNESCO-listed island, will impact on their livelihoods and accuse the government of ignoring their concerns.—AFP