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Ruto: Japan pledges Sh30bn Mombasa Port funding
Deputy President Willliam Ruto (left) is received by government officials at JKIA on arrival from Japan June 5, 2013. Mr Ruto said Japan will fund the modernisation of the Mombasa Port at a cost of Sh30 billion. DPPS
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Mr Ruto says there is need to urgently expand and commercialise the port in order to compete with other countries in the region.
Japan will fund the modernisation of the Mombasa Port at a cost of Sh30 billion, Deputy President William Ruto has said.
Mr Ruto said there is need to urgently expand and commercialise the port in order to compete with other countries in the region.
The Deputy President made the remarks Wednesday during a media briefing at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport after arriving from Japan where he represented President Kenyatta at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
Mr Ruto said he had negotiated with Japanese leaders for the construction of phase two and three of the Port of Mombasa and the construction of free port and Bypass at Dongo Kundu by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to ease movement of goods and people.
“I also met the Vice President of the World Bank and concluded discussions on the construction of the Kitale to Juba Road that will cost Sh50billion to cover a distance of 600 kilometres and which will start at the end of the year," he noted.
On energy, the Deputy President said plans are underway to start producing power using geothermal energy.
He said there was need to produce between 4,000 -5,000 megawatts in the next five years from coal to make power cheaper not only to Kenyans but also manufacturers.
Mr Ruto said Japan Gas and Metal Company has already signed an MOU to mine coal in Kwale and Kitui counties.
He noted that power produced from coal will reduce the cost of energy and compete with other competitors and encourage foreign investments.
The Deputy President said Japan was also funding the expansion of Mwea Irrigation scheme and rice growing at a cost of Sh20billion.
On Somalia, the Deputy President said he met and had discussions with the Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon on how to stabilise Somalia.
He said there was need to put in place good governance structures and programmes on the repatriation of Somalia refugees in Kenya camps saying discussions are ongoing between the two governments.
