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{
    "id": 1025188,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1025188/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Maara, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kareke Mbiuki",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 79,
        "legal_name": "Japhet M. Kareke Mbiuki",
        "slug": "japhet-kareke-mbiuki"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I beg to move: THAT, this House adopts the Report of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources on its inquiry into the status of dams in Kenya, laid on the Table of the House on Thursday, 17th October 2019. The Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources pursuant to Standing Order No. 216 (5) (a), embarked on inquiring on the status of dams in Kenya. This was necessitated by the fact that there were various dam projects across the country, which had been allocated funds year after year. The Committee set out to establish the status of these dams against the resources allocated. In the course of the inquiry, the Committee held meetings with the Cabinet Secretary for Water and Sanitation and Chief Executive Officers of various water agencies — which were formally called Water Service Boards — from across the country. The Committee also conducted inspection visits to various dam projects across the country, to assess their status. The Committee visited the following dams, Itare Dam, which has already stalled; Chemususu Dam, which is completed; Northern Collector Tunnel; Kariminu II Dam, which is ongoing; Thwake Dam, which is ongoing; Umaa Dam, which stalled many years ago; as well as Mwache Dam, which is awarded but has not yet commenced. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Committee also sought for written submissions for other dams across the country, to understand the progress made so far. The Committee wrote to the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, the National Treasury, the Rift Valley Water Works Development Authority and the Athi Water Works Development Authority, seeking for additional information on various water projects being implemented. The Committee’s inquiry into the status of dams in Kenya was guided by the following objectives: (i) To conduct physical inspection to establish the status and progress of works for dams to be visited. (ii) To identify any discrepancies that may be notable between the paper reports and the actual physical situation on the ground. (iii) To establish the reasons for the slow progress of the construction of dams in the country. (iv) To recommend effective implementation strategies for the construction of the dams. (v) To report on specific recommendations on the way forward for the ongoing projects and the stalled ones. During the inquiry, the Committee noted that the construction of various dam projects was slow and this was attributed to a number of factors, which included, inadequate financial resources, primarily, counterpart funding, inefficient and costly financing models and unsettled resettlement action plan issues. It was further observed that various dam project’s financial commitment had been done before acquisition of the project land. This led to the delays in the implementation of the projects and huge costs in idle time and equipment. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Committee further noted that, whereas substantial resources were committed to construction of mega dams across the country, there were no plans The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}