Ngilu to give Mui coal mining priority in a veiled signal to work with Jubilee Party
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| Vast coal deposit land of Mui as seen near Lundi market |
BY BONIFACE MWANIKI
Kitui County is expected to reap a lot from the huge mineral deposits it has, thanks to new leadership under H.E. Charity Ngilu.
Although mining of minerals like coal and limestone which have been discovered at the Mui coal basin and Ngaaie respectively have stalled for long, Ngilu in her inauguration speech promised to tap such minerals in order to improve economy of the county.
Ngilu promised to partner with the national government in order to ensure that minerals which exist in Kitui such as coal and limestone are fully utilized for the benefit of residents.
On the same issue, former Mwingi central MP Joe Mutambu on an interview said that though he tried to push for the coal mining project to start while he the area MP, both the national government and the company which was awarded the contract took the process too slow.
However Mutambu pointed out that owing to the international stance on the environmental impacts of coal mining, the project might not find an easy time to be actualized as the international community is already opposed to it.
The local community as well stands opposed to the project due to uncertainty of where they might be relocated to once the project starts and over issues of compensation.
Muthui Mung’ola, a farmer at the Mui Coal basin is of the opinion that the project should never commence, as it will totally interfere with farming which is the only source of income for his family.
Mbithe Muthui, a lady from the area has a feeling that though compensation might be done to those who will be affected by the project, the amount of money might not be enough compared to what they get from farming on regular basis.
Though the coal mining project is likely to get maximum goodwill from the newly elected governor and the new Mwingi Central MP Gideon Mulyungi, the setbacks are still expected to be many due to the many factors affecting the project. It will only take maximum cooperation between the county and the national government to get the project actualized.
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It will be a boost in the Kenya energy sector. However Kitui county lying on Arid and semi arid areas should also invest in tapping renewable solar energy and wind energy thats in abundance in this sub saharan region
ReplyDeleteYeah, True
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