{"id":471909,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/471909/?format=json","text_counter":288,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. (Dr.) Pukose","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":1458,"legal_name":"Robert Pukose","slug":"robert-pukose"},"content":"Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me a chance to contribute to this very important Bill, the Mining Bill, National Assembly Bill No.9 of 2014. This is a very important Bill. As we are aware, in the past, people have been asking for licenses for mines exploration and somebody continued to undertake mines exploration within a region for an indefinite period of time. As much as the Committee recommends the requirements for a license, the duration between exploration and mining should come out very clearly. What is the duration for somebody to do exploration? How long should one have a mining license? We are talking of 25 years, but this is too long. I want to agree with hon. Wamalwa that we should talk about 15 years; it should even come down to 10 years. That will be reasonable enough, although considering the amount of investment, it may not be enough. The Committee also recommends a minimum of about Kshs500 million for somebody to be given the mining license. This will lock out local investors. We should look at it visa-vis the kind of mining activity one intends to do; people with, at least, a reasonable sum of money, for instance even Kshs200 million or Kshs11 million, should be licensed."}