Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1056491,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1056491/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 183,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilifi North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Owen Baya",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13373,
        "legal_name": "Owen Yaa Baya",
        "slug": "owen-yaa-baya"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I would like to contribute to the Motion on the BPS and say that as this country moves forward with the kind of economy that has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government needs to start reviewing its policy under expenditure. We have a huge deficit within the budget that is being proposed. Even when we have such deficit, we have key sectors within the BPS that are not adequately funded, for example, the land sector which is an area that I will always talk about. The Ministry of Lands and Physical Planning has the physical planning aspect where we have put in a new Principal Secretary. However, the PS, State Department of Physical Planning, is given around Kshs60 million only to manage the whole Department for a whole year. The idea of planning our towns and cities by putting infrastructure for development to ensure that we have new towns that are developing will not be achieved because there is lack of funding in key areas of the land sector. For this country to develop on the basis of the Vision 2030 and the Big Four Agenda by the Government, the land sector must be properly funded so that we have enough money to ensure that people have land where they can put up factories, plant crops, construct houses and other developments for prosperity of this country. If we do not adequately fund the land sector as it is in the BPS, we have a problem taking this country forward on the basis of the development under the Big Four Agenda that we have in this country. Secondly, sectors of growth, especially service sectors like tourism which is a sector that the people of the Coast Region rely on heavily is being underfunded. Marketing of tourism and tourism products is shrinking. Why? Because we do not have enough resources in these areas. This country will develop when roads are there but this country will develop more when we ensure that service sectors like tourism which are the areas in this world that are growing economies in leaps and bounds are properly funded. If they are not properly funded you will realise that there will be no money in the pockets of the people. What this Government needs to do is make deliberate investment in the BPS to ensure that we are putting money in the pockets of the people that are at the bottom. Again, on the tax brackets, there are very few people working. There are very few people earning, but we all want to consume. That means that we will not have enough taxes to ensure we develop this country. We need to expand the tax base. How do we do that? It is by putting money in the pockets of the people so that they are able to pay taxes. When more people in this country pay taxes, we will reduce the debt levels that we are increasing every day. What we have is an economy that is shrinking. The more the economy shrinks, the more people are left out of the 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."
}