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{
    "id": 209113,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/209113/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 167,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Muite",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 235,
        "legal_name": "Paul Kibugi Muite",
        "slug": "paul-muite"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as you know, Kenya has the second highest potential for geothermal power production. I think the only other country in the world that has a greater capacity than Kenya is New Zealand. I urge the Government to intensify---We are aware that they have been thinking of setting up wells to tap geothermal energy. That needs to be expedited. We need to put a premium on that, exploit it fully and move away slowly from using hydro. We are aware of the effects of green houses. It is true that coal is a pollutant if it is going to generate electricity. However, the fact of the matter is that electricity generated from coal, like it is done in South Africa, is amongst the cheapest in the world. Since we have not reached our quota in terms of green houses and global warming, I would urge--- We are aware that the Government is exploiting the deposits of coal in Mwingi South, Mwingi North and Kitui, among other areas of Ukambani. We need to fast-track the exploitation of this coal so that we can also generate electricity from coal before we reach our quota. If we do this, then we will bring down the cost of energy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we talked about the small-scale generation of electricity. That is something that the Ministry should accelerate in terms of encouraging building of more dams in many villages so that they can generate their own electricity. As you are aware, we have a lot of wastage when transporting electric energy over long distances. However, if it is generated in a particular dam for consumption in the same area, no electric energy would be lost owing to long distance. The Ministry of Energy should work hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation so that we can build dams, not just to generate electricity but to carry out irrigation. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you examine the map of Kenya, you will see that the area between Nairobi and Mombasa, the whole of Ukambani, which people refer to as an Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASAL), and other areas that are described as arid and semi arid--- If the Ministry of Energy was to combine forces with the Ministry of Water, they would build dams to August 14, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3147 seal all the water which is also causing landslides that are killing Kenyans in Western Province. Where are the plans to harvest this rain water? Where do we get the plans to harvest rain water from every stream and river so that we can generate electricity and also harvest rain water for irrigation? We have a peaceful country. However, when we talk as if we are satisfied with very pedestrian achievements in terms of economic growth, we are not factoring in the bigger picture. The bigger picture, as I said, is to harvest all the rain water to dams, particularly the seasonal rivers so that we can generate electricity and use that water for irrigation purposes. Only then, can we start talking about taking off. It is true that this economy can take off. However, it can only take off if we stop being satisfied with very modest gains. The gains we are seeing are very modest and until we go further and dream big and implement big dreams, we are not going to have the economy of this country achieve growth to the digit to which we want it to grow; the double-digit growth. I beg to support."
}