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{
    "id": 531437,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/531437/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 409,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "good, because we have another law that was moved by this House after being proposed by a Committee which is headed by Sen. (Dr.) Zani. You and I sat in that Committee, including many other Senators. It is important that these laws are married together because you will remember that we went to Turkana, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kwale and many other counties. It is important for that law to be interlinked in the long run. Even if the two laws are passed separately, in the long run, we must bring back amendments to this House to interlink the two laws so that then, you have clear provisions as to how our local communities will benefit if they discover certain minerals in a particular area. This amendment will also specify how then these resources – which are national resources – shall benefit the counties through the Division of Revenue Bill or whether there are certain percentages that are going to be left to specifically benefit counties. The other good provisions in this law are the provisions of Part 11, among others, dealing with the environment, recognizing that sometimes, mining can be very hazardous and can pollute the environment and these provisions aim at protecting that environment, water rights and other rights. I have just given an example of land use in my area and I said that we need to ensure that the land use laws are protected and provided for; we need to ensure that the environment is not polluted or messed up and that the people are not affected, health-wise, basically as a result of mining that is not considerate. This Bill is so detailed and I hope the relevant Committee - which I suppose is either the Committee on Lands and Natural Resources or the Committee on Energy - has looked at this Bill so that when we move to the Committee Stage, they can lead us in whatever amendments which are necessary from a detailed perspective so that all of us can benefit from the expertise of a Committee of this House which will enable us as we look at whatever amendments. Be it as it may, considering that this Bill was not drafted by just one person; it has gone through various processes of public participation, thoughts of experts on matters of minerals and mining were included, I think we can trust them to have suggested a very good Bill and it is important to benefit from our Committees. With all those many remarks, I am proud to have contributed to this Bill and to have sat here on the Second Reading of the Bill. I would encourage our Members on the other side - because I can see that their activeness and participation in this Bill is very scanty - that in future, they must not deny the Minority side an opportunity to also speak to important Bills in this House so that we do not just sit in this House, shout at each other, make noise and unwarranted allegations. The Senate Minority Leader who unfortunately did not sit---"
}