Kwa hivyo kwa akili yako unaona kwamba Lapsset hata baada ya miaka ishirini haitakuwa ikitengenza pesa? Wewe unajua nini kitakachokuwa kikifanyika miaka ishirini ijayo? Hivi unajua baadhi ya MPs katika parliament ya Britain walikuwa wakipinga reli ya metre gauge isijengwe Kenya na Uganda kwa sababu itagharimu pesa nyingi na haitawahi kujilipia. Walisema kwamba reli hii haitowahi kuleta faida yoyote kwa Britain na hata kwa Kenya au Uganda. Sasa nataka ujue kwamba reli hii japo kujengwa kwake kulikuwa na matatizo mengi ikiwemo wajenzi kuliwa na simba huko Tsavo na Wakipsigis kupigana vita vikali kukataa reli kupita eneo lao ila reli ilikamilika. Manufaa ya reli hii yamekuwa mengi sana. Baada ya miaka mia moja, tukitazama manufaa ya reli hii ni pamoja na kuchangia export ya mazao ya kahawa na chai kutoka Uganda na Kenya na kuzipeleka Mombasa for export. Kwa miaka hamsini ya kwanza, Kenya ilitumia reli kuexport na kuimport kila kitu. Hii barabara ya lami ya Nairobi-Mombasa ilijengwa in the 1950s. Pili towns zote kubwa Kenya zimejengwa kando mwa reli hii: Mombasa, Voi, Mtito Andei, Machakos, Nairobi, Naivasha, Nakuru, Kisumu, Nyeri, Eldoret na Kampala yenywe.
Kwa hivyo tukiangalia positive effects ya hii reli hatuangalii profits pekee bali tunaangalia linkage effects ya reli hii. Infrastructure nyingi huwa hazileti faida kifedha ila serikali bado inazidi kuzigharamia kwa sababu zinasupport other sectors. Reli ya UK kuna wakati ilikuwa inaleta hasara lakini kwa sababu inasupport sectors zingine muhimu basi serikali ya UK haingeikubalia ife. Airline sector na car manufacturing sector ya marekani zilikuwa karibu kufa wakati wa 2007 recession ila serikali ya Marekani iliingilia kati kuzisupport kwa sababu sectors hizi ni muhimu kwa uchumi wa Marekani na zinasaidia sector zingine na kuziwacha zijifie eti kwa sababu hazileti profit ni kuwa na akili ndogo
joto la jiwe . Electric railway ya China bado haijaanza kutengeneza profit ila China inazidi kujenga more railway na kuunganisha maeneo zaidi na reli kwa sababu wanajua faida ya reli. Reli itaunganisha maeneo ya mbali na port, itasafirisha mizigo na watu. Kwa hivyo usiangalie infrastructure in terms of profit and loss bali in terms of overall benefit to the economy. How many sectors does it support, how many jobs does it create, how many investors does it attract, how many towns and cities are built because of the new road or rail, how many mining companies and agricultural companies are formed because of good logistics provided by the new road? Barabara mpya kutoka Lamu hadi Ethiopia itazalisha towns kama kumi mpya na kampuni kama ishirini za kusafirisha bidhaa mbali mbali kutoka Isiolo, Marsabit, Ethiopia, S. Sudan hadi Lamu. Hizi zote ni linkage effect ya barabara mpya unayostahili kuzingatia. Sio profit and loss pekee.