Regarding this article: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000186716/italian-billionaire-to-withdraw-sh1-billion-investment-in-malindi
Having lived on this beach in the past (I haven't been able to return to Malindi since 2005) I can only hope that Mr. Briatore has been responsible with the development and built sustainably and that the children of the coast still have venues to learn about marine life and conservation.
I am also quite curious about how the figures stack up beyond construction, how much revenue this actually comes into Malindi and Kenya generally, whether the rooms are booked and paid for in Kenya and how many of the billionaires eat or spend outside the development etc. He potentially has a point regarding the siting of the refuse plant there, which seems an utterly ridiculous planning choice.
Personally I rather liked the airport being small and exclusive and felt it was in keeping with size of the town but if the roads to Mombasa are still as bad as they were I can see how this could be a problem.
I don't know how he was able to build on the marine park. I used to rent, work and run a company from a house on Cassaurina beach and have pictures of the turtles that used to nest there (some of which a neighbour and I rescued) which I put on my own website and on social media at the time that Briatore was building a wall there.
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