CS Najib Balala: State to build Sh50m gemology centre

Voi, Kenya; The Government has set aside more than Sh50 million to construct a gemology centre in Voi town, Taita-Taveta County, Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala has said.

The CS said the establishment of the centre would be used for value addition of raw minerals in the region, where about 70 per cent of gemstone mining in the country is carried out.

"We will no longer export raw minerals once the gemology centre is established. We will fingerprint all the gemstones in Kenya and create buying centres for small-scale miners who have persistently been exploited by unscrupulous dealers from Tanzania, who then sell them exorbitantly abroad," noted Balala.

The CS made the remarks at the Taita-Taveta County offices when he paid a courtesy call on Governor John Mruttu. Balala, who was accompanied by Prisons Commissioner General Isaiah Osugo, later officially opened a Sh2 million new dispensary built by the Government at Wundanyi GK Prisons.