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"content": "unobtrusive access to areas with fragile ecosystems; recognizing the need to open up new and untapped tourist attractions; the Senate urges the National Government to provide a policy framework for use of cable cars to enhance tourism. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we, as a country, have always complained of not being like the South East Asia Tigers. Most of the problems that we face are of our own making. Since Independence, 50 years down the line, not much has been done to promote the tourism industry. Tourism is one of the greatest foreign exchange earners in any country. All a country needs to do is to attract many foreign visitors. This is because they will spend their foreign currency here. In the long run, the country gets enough money to support other projects and services. Therefore, we need to explore other areas to attract many tourists. For instance, the modes of transport in tourist attraction sites have remained untapped for many years. That is why I imagine that the use of cable cars in Kenya can attract more tourists. This can translate to more foreign exchange in our kitty which will support various development projects in the country. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I talk with a lot of bitterness because most of us here have visited many developed countries, but we have not brought any positive changes in this country. I visited Kuala Lumpur which is the capital city of Malaysia. They have put up two beautiful twin towers. It is believed that these are the tallest buildings in the world. Many people go there to see those buildings. From the top of these two towers, you are able to view the beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur. In Paris, France, there is the Eiffel Tower, which is a site that collects a lot of money as a tourist attraction. That money translates into a lot of development in France. There are many other countries that have come up with unique tourist attractions. In Cape Town, South Africa, there are cable cars. They ferry tourists to the Table Mountains. While on the Table Mountains, you are able to see a variety of animals, landscapes and the ocean currents; that is the Benguela and Agulhas currents where the Indian and the Atlantic Oceans meet, making a stormy sea. That is what tourists like to see. All these are facilitated by the use of cable cars as a mode of transport. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we can use cable cars in our country in areas where there is no accessibility to tourist attraction sites. If we do this, we will attract tourists who are unable to climb, for instance, around Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon, Mt. Longonot, cross through the Rift Valley or the Mua hills in Machakos County. When cable cars are introduced on such terrains, we will collect a lot of foreign exchange to develop our country. According to the research that I have done, it will not be expensive to install cable cars as has been imagined. A cable car from Westlands to the Central Business District (CBD), for example, could cost Kshs3 billion to install. This is too little money compared to Kshs300 billion which is reported in today’s newspaper as not being accounted for by various Ministries. If we had good planners, architects, engineers and serious policy makers in this country, we can save a lot of money. We need to manage our environment properly if we are to earn enough foreign exchange for this country. We will also save a lot of time as we travel from one place to another. We will also have a proper grip of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}