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{
    "id": 303852,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/303852/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 414,
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    "content": "Mining is a very important industry in this country, but it remains unexploited. This country has put very little resources to mineral exploration, yet she has rich resources in terms of minerals. This exercise is very expensive and I am sure Members like hon. Muthama will tell you that you need a lot of investments in the mining industry. But the potential is enormous. Within the short time that we have had the discovery of oil, we have seen the excitement that it has caused. I want to assure you that oil is just one of the many other minerals that this country is endowed with. This country has a lot of mineral resources, particularly gold and others. An example is coal, which is already causing a lot of issues in Kitui and other places. This is an area where we need public/private partnership because, as a country, we do not have enough resources to go into these sectors singlehandedly. It has been projected that within the next 50 years, more than 50 per cent of Kenyans will be urbanized. Therefore, the biggest challenge that we have is to provide good housing for these people. Already major towns like Nairobi, Mombasa and Nakuru are experiencing a very serious shortage of housing. This is an area again where public/private partnerships can work extremely well. Some of us have had a chance, through Parliamentary Committees, to visit Mexico and Brazil and we have seen what public/private partnerships in sectors can do. It can do a lot. This in turn will create a lot of employment opportunities for our youth. Kenya is strategically placed when it comes to the aviation industry. However, we have never taken a serious look at how to expand the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. It is sad that we say that Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is a very important international airport, but we only have one runaway. When we have any problem on the runaway, everything goes amok. How can the country that expects to become a middle income industrialized country by 2030, have its main airport with only one run way? We have to make drastic decisions and use partnership with the private sector to build a second run way to ensure that wherever there is a problem, we have an alternative. We have this major project that is called “Green Field Project”. It is important that this country, through the Ministry of Finance, once this Bill is enacted, makes immediate decisions and enters into this Green Field Project, so that we can construct a second run way. This will ensure that if something happens, we will have an alternative run way. We have brilliant ideas like the Konza City. You will listen and see how Konza City will look like and say: My God, I should live to see it. But it is not going to be possible through public funding. We will need the private sector. So, it is also important that as we market Konza City, we must ensure that the interests of the people, particularly the local people, are taken into account. There is a risk that we will be carried away by the zeal to get investors only to compromise the social welfare of our people. So, as we look at all these projects, which have a very high potential for creating employment for this country--- I believe that if we go the way this Bill is proposing, we may not be talking of unemployment, but of looking for people from outside to get employed in specialized areas. The potential that we have in this country is just enormous. However, I must caution. They say that once bitten, twice shy. We have had an extremely bad experience with the Rift Valley Railways. We were made to believe that this would make our railway system become operational. Therefore, we were made to"
}