Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 74998,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/74998/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kimunya",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 174,
        "legal_name": "Amos Muhinga Kimunya",
        "slug": "amos-kimunya"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, the airstrip has been in the existence for the last 47 years. Indeed, it was used before Independence as a security airstrip. That was the time when the distance from Murang’a to Nairobi used to take four hours because of the condition of the road. Since then, the connectivity between Murang’a and Nairobi is now on bitumen and it takes less than an hour, hence the need for an airstrip even for security reasons is not an emergency. In those days, it was actually being used for purposes of air freighting the Mau Mau Fighters from the then Fort Hall to detention camps and prisons. But since Independence, it has never been used for any commercial or civil aviation purposes. As I said, this airstrip is only 800 metres long in terms of the land available. We need much more than that. We need, at least, 1.5 kilometres in length for the airstrip to be considered safe for operation as a civil aviation facility. Looking at the options we have of acquiring more land and rehabilitating the airstrip and considering its use, it will not give any advantage over the road which takes the same time to Nairobi. For this reason, we do not consider it as a priority, unless the Murang’a County was to provide extra land of, at least, 1.5 kilometres, where we can then consider an airstrip in the spirit of having an airstrip in every county. Certainly, the Kambirwa Airstrip is not technically visible. We do not need to do any further assessment on it. Notwithstanding the fact that the Ministry of Roads had tried to rehabilitate it, the Ministry of Transport considers it not to be safe and secure to rehabilitate the airstrip in that area."
}