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{
    "id": 1522936,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1522936/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 380,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Temporary Speaker, if that belt is there, it needs to be exploited professionally. It will create employment and wealth for the people, and to the Government through taxes. Currently, the process is destructive in most ways. What people are most concerned about is the safety of miners when the mines collapse. The miners work underground without the skills or resources to protect themselves deep inside. The other issue is that mining distracts children from education. Children abandon going to school to work in mines thus having a negative outcome. The miners use generators while inside the mines. Sometimes, people die from carbon monoxide poisoning emitted from the generators. These are some of the issues that are mostly overlooked. But that is not the only danger miners are exposed to. The danger we all know about is the collapse of mines. Miners use bare hands when spanning, which has a lot of health hazards. The chemicals they use are poisonous. Mercury is extremely, neurologically poisonous. Arsenic is a slow killer. It can be used to poison people. Lead is very toxic to kidneys. Some of the miners may die slowly from kidney failure. Cyanide is an acute poison. The dust and silica, when inhaled for a long time, are dangerous to the lungs. In old age, they may start dying of chronic lung disease or heart disease. It may be difficult to relate the diseases to the mining activities that one engaged in previously. So, mining is a very dangerous activity. Aside from that, some of these chemicals are carcinogenic. Some of them, mercury in particular, affect unborn babies. So, the dangers are numerous while the returns are not that good because of exploitation. The young men and women working in the mines are underpaid by the middlemen controlling the mines. I support this Bill. Clause 6 of the Bill establishes the Gold Processing Corporation. Clause 8 of the Bill outlines the functions of the Corporation. The Corporation shall establish mining structures, standards, materials to be used and the licensing process and timing. Once those aspects are addressed, we can examine the health hazards. We will have to carefully look at the Bill in more detail. It will not only protect the health of our people and improve their The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}