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"id": 1077058,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1077058/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Pokot South, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. David Pkosing",
"speaker": {
"id": 2662,
"legal_name": "Losiakou David Pkosing",
"slug": "losiakou-david-pkosing"
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"content": "entire Financial Year, from July this year to June next year. We are only approving a meagre Kshs 30 billion. As if that is not enough, by the time we will be approving that budget, perhaps, next week on Tuesday, we would have accumulated and concluded what we are going to approve. It means, therefore, that the entire department will lack resources from the time they are supposed to begin spending these resources - there is a crisis in roads. I want to say this in confidence even as I represent Members of this Parliament, that there will be a serious crisis in roads. Our prediction as Committee is, maybe by August. You know in August this year there will be a lot of rains in this country and roads will be destroyed. I also sit and talk to the people in charge of environment. I have presented these issues to the Budget and Appropriations Committee and I am glad that our able Chief Whip of the majority side, who sits in Parliament almost entirely, sits in Budget and Appropriations Committee. I have cried in the Budget and Appropriations Committee on behalf of the whole country that there is no money in roads. We have a problem. It is better said on record, so that if there will be a crisis in August, I will raise my hands. I will have said this on behalf of this honourable Members sitting here. If you put this together, this is the most deserving programme. We must do something as a House. When I started contributing, I said this House is a House of making budget, not a conveyor belt. We must be able to move resources from elsewhere to roads as everybody wants. We will have a problem in August. We have about 3000 roads under KeNHA, KURA and KeRRA. About 2000 roads are being done differently. We have a problem. When we raise these problems, other people and thinkers ask: “Why do you want to begin a road, why do you not complete the roads already in place that have a huge pending bill? Why do we not complete these ones, then later we can now begin to do other roads?” That is a very simple explanation, but very difficult to implement because some parts of this country have not seen a tarmac road. Somebody who presented to our Committee very seriously comes from Taita Taveta. Some critical constituencies in Taita Taveta have not even seen a tarmac road. People go for tours to see tarmac roads. It is the same as my county, West Pokot. Before Jubilee took over, many people used to go for tours to go and see tarmac roads. I am certain that is the case even in your own county. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, all I am trying to say is that if we complete these roads which are there now then we start new ones next time, it will mean that we are developing half of the country and half of the country will be left out. Is that the idea? Are we building one country? We might be dealing with two countries. That is why I am saying this. If we do that, we will be developing half of this country. Then we are going to bring conflicts among communities. This House is not necessarily a House of conveyor belts, we are a budget-making House. I am pleading with Hon. Members, I did the same with the Budget and Appropriations Committee, that coming to the Committee on Supply, let us move monies to roads. We have made suggestions. We are looking at about Kshs 50 billion to Kshs 75 billion additional monies to roads, so that we can have our country moving. There was a question about where the resources will come from. We have a small basket. This is true. We made a suggestion as a Committee and said we cannot only fund roads using normal budget. We proposed that there be floating of a bond to this House two years ago. We said, we cannot continue as if it is normal. It is not normal. We should think outside the box or without the box. We suggested floating of a bond. A bond looks like a loan, which is true, we suggested in this House that the House approves and amends the law so that Kenya Roads Board (KRB) floats a bond in or on top of the normal budget. What will be the security, how are we going to leverage? We suggested to this House, two options: One, is to securitise using fuel levy. Fuel levy which we mostly use for maintenance of our roads. We can leverage that resource and get money 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."
}