Land acquisition for upgrade and expansion of Isiolo Airport from a small airstrip to an international airport commenced in 2004 when Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) wrote to Isiolo County Council requesting that land be set aside for the project. The process of determining which people were the rightful owners of the land and therefore legally entitled to compensation was fraught with difficulties. New Part Development Plans (PDPs) were issued, which participants of focus group discussions conducted by the Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI) said undermined security of tenure because people who wanted to re-allocate, or grab, land would be issued with a new PDP. This resulted in double or triple issuance of allotment letters over the same parcel of land. Land rights of new allotment letter holders were pitted against those holding previously issued PDPs. Resettlement commenced in 2008, in three areas: Mwangaza, Kiwanjani and Chechelsi. Some of the plots were already occupied, a problem which community members said would have been known if they had been involved in the committees identifying the resettlement areas. Residents neighbouring the project site were apprehensive that their land would be targeted for future acquisition, or their use of it inhibited by continued reference to the land as being part of the airport complex. There were boundary disputes between affected communities and airport authorities. One incidence was in 2008 when KAA officials arrived to fence off and try to annex plots of land. Villagers drew their attention to a map showing that their land and properties were not part of the land allocated for airport expansion, a claim which was proved to be accurate.[1] Compensation disputes were still evident in November 2016, when operations of the expanded Isiolo Airport were imminent. The problem of over-allocation of land rights documents had caused chaos and many displaced people found it impossible to resettle in the designated areas. Yet more displacement loomed because a 16 hectare area was required, to be cleared for security reasons.[2] Human rights tensions and failures A 2017 report on tensions between land rights and development in Isiolo County, by human rights organization Hakijamii, found that the Isiolo Airport project had failed to uphold many aspects of human rights, pertaining to information, housing, employment, education and provision of water. Communities were not informed about the impacts of Isiolo Airport and other megaprojects on their lives. The airport is just one component of the LAPSSET Corridor, which also comprises Lamu Port, resort cities, a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), oil refinery and pipeline. A majority of respondents to the survey for the Hakijamii report, 73 per cent, had not even been aware of the LAPSSET projects until eviction started around the land allocated for Isiolo Airport. Affected people had not been adequately involved in project implementation and, overall, the megaprojects had not enhanced any basic public services. Specifically with regard to the airport, prior to evictions in Mwangaza, inhabitants were hurriedly summoned to vacate land without adequate notice and were unable to prepare themselves practically or psychologically for relocation. Their rights to information and involvement were violated. The issue of some of the land allocated for resettlement already being occupied had directly deprived people of their land and violatedtheir right to compensation. Thirty-two evicted Project Affected Persons (PAPs) had still not been compensated and their land dispute cases remained unresolved. Demolitions had led to failure to provide adequate housing for inhabitants of the Isiolo Airport area. Most affected residents had been forced to seek temporary shelter with family and friends. Residents had not been made aware that their parcels of land were located within the area allocated for the airport before inception of the expansion plan. Most of the jobs at Isiolo Airport had not been awarded to local people and 78.8 of respondents to Hakijamii’s survey felt that the airport expansion project had made people poorer. The airport project also impacted negatively on rights to education; several learning institutions were adversely affected by evictions and those adjacent to the airport affected by noise pollution.[3] In May 2016, as the expanded airport prepared to commence operations, K L Nkengecia Primary School, established in the late 1980s on land donated by the community, just 1 kilometer from the runway, had yet to be relocated. Yet the school was encircled within the airport fence and the airport management denied them access. KAA had yet to fulfil its promise to relocate the school to an alternative site. In order to access their school pupils and teachers cut a hole in the fence. They continued to attend school in spite of the safety risks and with noise and pollution from aircraft and ongoing construction works affecting pupils’ ability to concentrate on their lessons.[4] Water tensions Expansion of Isiolo Airport reduced water supplies to Isiolo Town. Most of the water supply was devoted to the airport for construction and operations.[3] In May 2016 it was reported that thousands of residents in three wards of Meru County were left without water for two weeks when pipes supplying the county were ruptured by a bulldozer that was being used by a contractor working on Isiolo Airport. Dozens of women and men dug a shallow furrow in the banks of the Kithima River in an attempt to restore a water supply, and villagers were forced to make 20 kilometer journeys to access water. Construction of pipelines for the Isiolo Phase 2 Water Project, a key purpose of which was to increase the water supply to Isiolo Airport, caused more protracted tensions with local communities. Supplies of water from the two rivers from which water was being tapped for the airport were already strained, causing tension between communities downstream. Volumes of water receded drastically during dry weather, the flow reducing to a trickle. After a protest against the water project, on 11th April 2016, 26 residents, including six students,were arrested.[5] |
Name of conflict: | Isiolo Airport, Kenya |
Country: | Kenya |
State or province: | Isiolo County and Meru County |
Location of conflict: | Isiolo |
Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
Type of conflict. 1st level: | Infrastructure and Built Environment |
Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Water access rights and entitlements Ports and airport projects Land acquisition conflicts |
Specific commodities: | Land Water |
Project details | Isiolo Airport is developed and operated by Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), a government-owned enterprise. The 329.7 hectare site is situated on the border between Isiolo County and Meru County. Upgrade and expansion of the facility from a small airstrip to an international airport to accommodate heavy commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A380 was completed in July 2017. Construction if Phase 1 of the upgrade began in 2011 and the airport runway, lengthened from 1.5 kilometers to 2.5 kilometers, opened in 2013. Ground-breaking for a new terminal meeting international standards took place in February 2013 and works were completed in February 2016. Phase 3 included an apron and access roads, completed in March 2016. The government of Kenya commissioned Isiolo Airport in July 2017.[6] The programme to upgrade and expand Isiolo Airport cost USD27 million. The airport has sufficient capacity to handle 350,000 passengers annually. But in April 2018, eight months after it was opened, Isiolo Airport was underultilized, operating at a small fraction of its capacity with a mere four flights per week.[7] |
Project area: | 327.9 hectares |
Level of Investment for the conflictive project | USD 27,000,000 |
Start of the conflict: | 12/2004 |
Company names or state enterprises: | Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) from Kenya - Developer and operator of Isiolo Airport Northern Construction Company from Kenya - Awarded contract to build new passenger terminal during phase two of Isiolo Airport upgrade and expansion project, completed February 2016 |
Relevant government actors: | Isiolo County Council Meru County Council Government of Kenya |
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | Hakijamii - http://www.hakijamii.com/ Land Development and Governance Institute (LDGI) - http://www.ldgi.org/ |
Intensity | LOW (some local organising) |
Reaction stage | PREVENTIVE resistance (precautionary phase) |
Groups mobilizing: | Local ejos Neighbours/citizens/communities |
Forms of mobilization: | Community-based participative research (popular epidemiology studies, etc..) Creation of alternative reports/knowledge |
Environmental Impacts | Visible: Global warming, Noise pollution, Other Environmental impacts, Air pollution Potential: Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity) |
Other Environmental impacts | Reduced water supply due to construction of water supply to the airport |
Health Impacts | Visible: Mental problems including stress, depression and suicide Potential: Other Health impacts |
Other Health impacts | Illnesses caused by pollutants emitted by aircraft |
Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Displacement, Land dispossession, Violations of human rights Potential: Loss of livelihood, Other socio-economic impacts |
Other socio-economic impacts | Interference in education due to: restricted access to a school within the airport fence, noise from aircraft and construction works impairing concentration Lack of jobs for local people at the airport |
Project Status | In operation |
Conflict outcome / response: | Compensation Land demarcation Migration/displacement |
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | No |
Briefly explain: | There were environmental justice failures as some residents were not compensated by the time the expanded airport commenced operations. |
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Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network |
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Contributor: | Rose Bridger, Stay Grounded, email: [email protected] |
Last update | 18/08/2019 |
Conflict ID: | 3927 |
Images |
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Construction of Isiolo Airport
Isiolo Airport has been expanded from a small airstrip to an international airport with a 2.5km runway. Source: radioshahidi.org
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Isiolo Airport runway
Source: CAPITALBUSINESS
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K K Nkengecia Primary School
A primary school just 500 meters from the runway had yet to be relocated as Isiolo Airport prepared to commence operations in 2016. Source: Vivian Jebet | Nation Media Group
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Residents left without water
In May 2016 a project to supply water to Isiolo Airport left thousands of residents without water. Source: Standard Kenya
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Isiolo Airport upgraded and expanded
Source: Kenya Airports Authority (KAA)
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Accessing school via a hole in the fence
Pupils and teachers cut a hole in the Isiolo Airport fence to access K K Nkengecia Primary School. Source: Source: Vivian Jebet | Nation Media Group
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