HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 232072,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/232072/?format=api",
"text_counter": 144,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Balala",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 9,
"legal_name": "Najib Mohamed Balala",
"slug": "najib-balala"
},
"content": "Mombasa is already the largest tea export port in the world. So, Mombasa can be turned into a port where African countries can exchange commodities. African countries can bring their commodities at the Port of Mombasa and trade them their for export. We can even go further and process some of those commodities in Mombasa. It could be tea, coffee, pyrethrum and so on. That way, we shall really boost our manufacturing industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another area that we need to develop is the motor vehicle industry. Africa hardly manufactures motor vehicles. Almost all African countries import 4008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 29, 2006 vehicles from Japan or get reconditioned vehicles from Dubai. We can create an area in Mombasa specifically for motor vehicles. We can deal directly with countries that manufacture vehicles, say, Japan, and import the vehicles. After we have imported the vehicles, we should be able to check them and then export to other countries. Let us not underestimate countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Congo, Northern Tanzania because they can support us greatly and enable us make a difference. In the hospitality industry, we have seen what has happened in Cape Town and the water front. Why can we not create a proper water front that is free of hustles of taxation? We should be able to create a cruise ship tourism and benefit largely from it. The linkages and benefits of tourism are so much that we can be able to create more jobs not only in Mombasa, but also in other parts of the country. This will also enable us support our agricultural sector upcountry. It is important that we rethink how we can use our natural resource, that is, the Port of Mombasa so that it can benefit all Kenyans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the revenue that will be generated and the employment opportunities that will be created in Mombasa once it becomes a free port will be a major boost. Another boost will be the doubling and tripling of our tourism business activities because it is cheaper for one to travel from Uganda to Mombasa to clear his or her goods in Mombasa. One cannot afford to travel by air because road and rail transport is cheaper than going all the way to Dubai and be conned. They also encounter language problems and cultural differences there. Mombasa is a natural economic hub for not only Kenya but the whole region. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important for us to know why Nigeria is implementing the Tinapa Project. They are doing it because that is where they will mint their money. Nigeria already has a free port for oil and gases because they produce them. Why do we not look at our port as a trading area? Mombasa has a history of being a trading hub. It is very important that we create an opportunity not only just to create jobs but to transfer technology and know-how, increase tourism as well as develop infrastructure so that we have easy flow of business transactions. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is a very important Motion that we need to look at and I believe my colleagues in this august House will support it and act as fast as possible to bring a Bill that will enact the Free Port Authority of Mombasa and with its attendant opportunities that will benefit this country. I know that there will be an opportunity to later go into the nitty-gritty of how this Act will be. That is the time when we will be able to have discussions and interactions with the private sector and colleagues in Parliament and brainstorm on the best way forward on this Free Port Authority. Today, I just want to create this concept of \"yes, it can be done\". Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are already aware that there are about 4,000 hectares of land just behind the current Mombasa port which has been earmarked for the last ten years as a potential area for a free trading zone. Why do we not do it professionally and put the right structure of managing that free port and not having it manipulated politically? We have seen managers brought to the port as ordinary civil servants but leave as billionaires while the port is actually \"milked\". It is neither benefitting the people of Mombasa nor this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as you are aware, most of the unskilled workers in Mombasa are the locals. Some people work for up to seven to ten years as casuals. There have not been any modalities for permanent employment particularly for people of that area or to have a permanent revenue generated from the port which could be shared with an authority where we can develop our infrastructure. Today, our infrastructure in Mombasa is overstretched due to the amount of volumes of traffic handled in the port as well as the people there. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Dongokundu is an appropriate area to expand the port. Also, the boundaries of South Coast could be moved further to create more space for expansion of the port. We can even go as far as Mariakani. Mariakani at one time was an Export Processing November 29, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4009 Zone (EPZ) that is why Mabati Rolling Mills are located there. Due to lack of support or back-up-- -"
}