It is not known whether it will ever really become a fully-fledged international airport, with direct flights from abroad, nor how long this process will eventually take, but yesterday's news is that the expansion works of the Malindi airport have been gazetted, after the final approval of the NEMA Environment Authority which conducted and completed the environmental impact studies on the extension of the airport that already has International status.
So there is nothing to prevent, except for hidden interests in the field of air transport and tourism, that once the runway has been definitively lengthened and the aircraft manoeuvring area adapted to Boeing, direct flights from Europe may finally arrive, as many tour operators, airlines, residents and tourists on the Italy-Kenya axis also dream of.
But in the meantime, the first step to be taken is the acquisition of land from nine villages behind the current airport site, with compensation for the legitimate owners. There are not many of them, given the habit of occupying a lot of "no man's land" and building their own houses on it by the local population, which over the years has come from the hinterland in search of work and livelihood.
The villages affected by the expropriation, starting next month, will be Majivuni, Bondeni, Furunzi, Ziwani, Kalimani Poa and Mtangani.
Many foreigners, especially Italians, Germans and Swiss, also live in the Furunzi and Mtangani districts. It will have to be seen if and how the outskirts of Malindi will be affected by the need for more land than that envisaged in the first part of the project, which will most likely remain confined to the left side of the Tsavo road.
NEMA, as confirmed by the Kenya Gazette, reported that the environmental impact assessment study showed that there would be further acquisition of land and property in the affected villages. For these acquisitions, Government had previously allocated 4.3 billion shillings which it is hoped are still available.
Accordingly, Nema has asked citizens to submit oral or written comments within 30 days from March 19 to the Director-General to assist the authority in the decision-making process.
"Compensation for loss of land or property will have to be done promptly and based on the latest market assessments. Resettlement and compensation will have to be implemented in accordance with the relevant decrees," the notice says. Amongst these regulations to be adhered to will be possible damage to structures and resettlement of water and electricity connections, as well as the fact that the compensation process and valuations will always have to be made public to avoid corruption or social injustice.
The Kenya Airports Authority plans, among other things, to extend the main runway to the north from the current 1.4 km to 2.4 km to allow large aircraft to land easily.
Malindi airport currently occupies 248 acres and needs a minimum of 640 acres to extend the runway and to ensure safety and that all other regulations are met.