HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 424884,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/424884/?format=api",
"text_counter": 68,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Kamanda",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 221,
"legal_name": "Maina Kamanda",
"slug": "maina-kamanda"
},
"content": "noted that even in 2018, at the end of the construction period, when the repayment of the principal sum will be due, the present value or the public sector debt ratio to the GDP, with the SGR in place, will be 43.8, well below the threshold of 56. The loan will not, therefore, breach the Kenyan debt sustainability threshold. With regard to the loan repayment, the Committee noted that the Government of the Republic of Kenya has put in place sustainable mechanisms to meet the cost of the loan during their tenure, including a railways development fund, budgetary allocation and traffic guarantee for the SGR. With regard to the cost of the project, the Committee noted that the cost of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR has not been fluctuating. The total EPC cost of the project is US$3.804 billion, which is Kshs327 billion. This is the same figure the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure provided to the Committee. This is made up of the contract for civil works, which is US$2.6575 billion, and the contract for supply and installation of facility, locomotive and rolling stock, which is US$1.146 billion. The Committee further noted that there will be other costs not yet confirmed, including compulsory land acquisition of 2,253 hectares for the railway corridor, which is estimated to cost Kshs8 billion. Expansion programme for the Embakasi Inland Container Depot is estimated at a cost of Kshs10.6 billion. There will be a facility development and supply of installation of container equipment at Kshs1 billion, and also Kshs3 billion, which will be required for project supervision consultancy. Regarding the supervision of the project, the KRC is in the process of procuring a consultant to undertake an independent supervision of this project including review, design, construction, supervision and commissioning the project; the consultant will approve and issue a certificate before payments are made to the CRBC. With regard to documentary evidence by the witnesses, the Committee was generally satisfied with the quality with respect to the production and information therein. On justification of the Mombasa-Nairobi SGR, the Committee asked why we are having this railway line. One of the justifications is that it will enhance transportation capacity, fast track movement of cargo in the country and in the region at a lower cost than is possible with the 16 meter gauge railway and road transport. There will be economic and social benefits, including annual GDP growth at the rate of 1.5 per cent during the construction. It will reduce congestion at Mombasa Port and, therefore, strategically placing the Port as the preferred facility in the region. There will be direct job creation of, at least, 60 new jobs per kilometer. That translates to 40,000 new jobs that are going to be created once we start the construction of the railway. There will be another 15,000 jobs for trained officers. So, in total, there will be over 15,000 new jobs once we start the project. It will promote the training institute as a centre of excellence for the railway skills in the region. Our Railway Training Institute which is in South B will be refurbished. It will be the hub and training centre for East and Central Africa. The Committee concluded that Kenya, as a country, had to get a sanctuary economically and socially from the construction stage and, subsequently, the operations of the Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway Project. 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."
}