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{
    "id": 1424587,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1424587/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 335,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Salim Mvurya",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Mining and Blue Economy",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Kanyagwal, where we will develop a center of excellence for aquaculture. This will initially cost Kshs1 billion, and we will then add Kshs1.5 billion to the project. We are in a partnership with Tom Mboya University as the institution that will participate actively in this project. When you look at the entire maritime area, we have found international partnerships so that Kenya can benefit from the experience and lessons of other countries. We have several Memoranda Understanding (MOUs) on capacity building that we have signed with Indonesia and many other countries to bring their experiences to Kenya. Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) has been critical in research. We have agreed that we need to convert research into action. In many areas where research has been done, there is a gap in implementation. We also augment research and implementation, which is coming up well. I assure the House that we are aware as we go forward. If you want to be a marine engineer today, you will have a challenge. We have made efforts to ensure that we augment this sector with new initiatives that will also benefit from technology. More importantly, last December, Kenya was voted a Member of the International Maritime Organisation. This not a small profile. We already have a grant of Kshs336 million being managed by the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to look at technology issues in the sector. So, we are very much on board. The other issue I want to respond to is what Sen. Veronica Maina has put before the House. Apart from the Kshs1 billion fund we are administering in the coast and Lake Victoria, next week we are working with our partners, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and we are launching another Kshs1 billion fund for aquaculture in Mount Kenya region so that we can have investors in this region. Those at the bottom of the pyramid will benefit from this grant. Next week, we will launch the Kshs1 billion fund for aquaculture, focusing on other regions away from Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean. The other part of the question relates to safety issues. It is true that when you visit the blue economy areas of Lake Victoria, Lake Baringo, Lake Turkana, and the Indian Ocean, you will find young and old people who may not have acquired formal education. They do not have a degree in coxswain or anything, but they have a lot of skills which include diving, coxswainship, navigation and many others. When we were talking about Hidaya, they were already telling us how the ocean behaves. We have a lot of skills that people have acquired over the years. That is why His Excellency directed that the first batch of coxswains be trained not by considering any level of education, but the level of skills. That process is ongoing. As I said, we were given a target of 2,000. We have done 5,410 and we commit to also train coxswains in Lake Baringo, Lake Naivasha and all other lakes in our country, so that we bring to speed those who are already in the sector and then thereafter we can upgrade the training to cover other people. I am also cognizant of the fact that in the Blue Economy Sector and fisheries in particular, sometimes we have people who also take advantage, molest, intimidate women and do all sorts of things. I want to assure you that all the strategies, policies, and"
}