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{
    "id": 1092062,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1092062/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 107,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Murang’a CWR, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Sabina Chege",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 884,
        "legal_name": "Sabina Wanjiru Chege",
        "slug": "sabina-wanjiru-chege"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. The first response will take some time. However, for the second two responses, the Members had appeared before the Committee and indicated that they were satisfied, unless they have any other questions. I will just touch on the other two later. I will start with the first one which was a request for a Statement regarding operation of buses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the country by Hon. Abdullswamad Nassir Sheriff of Mvita Constituency. The first question was whether the Chair could explain the basis for allowing rail and road transport to carry passengers at full capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic while subjecting coast public service buses totalling to 1,260 buses operated by 42 companies to operate at half capacity. The response was that following the development of protocols for the resumption of air and rail transport in July 2020, those modes of transport resumed their operations with full carrying capacity in August 2020 and October 2020 respectively. That resumption leveraged on the ability of the stakeholders to adhere to the containment measures detailed in the protocols. That was made possible owing to the inherent strict procedures guiding the booking, ticketing on-board and seating arrangements in those two modes of transport. It also leveraged on thorough screening of passengers, especially temperature screening at several points before boarding, and limiting the entry of suspected cases in the cabin. In the response to the direction given by His Excellency the President in the 14th Presidential Address to the Nation on the COVID-19 Pandemic on 12th March 2021, the Ministry of Health, together with the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works, the Ministry of the Interior and Coordination of National Government, the Federation of Public Transport Sector and other state Departments including the Kenya Revenue Authority and the National Transport and Safety Authority held a joint meeting and reviewed the existing protocols in the transport sector and agreed to new guidelines to be complied with by the public service vehicle (PSV) industry. The protocols were reviewed to allow PSVs to carry at full capacity, subject to enhancement of safety measures and regulations through the PSV Saccos and companies to facilitate continued safety of passengers while mitigating the spread of COVID-19. However, the protocols could not be implemented as the positivity rates in the country began to rise from a low positivity of 2 per cent in January to 26.6 per cent in the fourth week of March 2021. Indications were on a rising rate. That heralded the beginning of the third wave of the pandemic. The country is only emerging from the third wave but the pandemic has not relented yet. In order to achieve full implementation of the protocols, the public transport operators were required to collaborate with the NTSA, the National Police Service and other public transport stakeholders to ensure full compliance with the protocols. The Ministry of Health is currently working with the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government and the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works to map out mechanisms to ensure compliance with the protocols. Such mechanisms include engagement with the Saccos to regulate the road transport operations of operators registered under them. It is the hope of the Ministry that PSVs will resume the full carrying capacity as the country emerges from 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."
}