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{
    "id": 1122824,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1122824/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 293,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Isiolo North, KPP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Hassan Hulufo",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13348,
        "legal_name": "Hassan Oda Hulufo",
        "slug": "hassan-oda-hulufo-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. I stand to support the adoption of this Report by the House. I am also privileged to be a member of the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. We were mandated by the Speaker following a petition by Edermann Kenya Limited on pollution caused by LDK. I want to agree with Hon. Kihara that when we visited the factory in 2018, we were shocked. We could not imagine that such a factory could be allowed to operate in our country. We were told a year earlier, prior to our visit, that it was shut down. Therefore, when we visited to verify facts on the ground, we realised that we needed to come up with very clear and strong recommendation. Clean environment is a must. It is also a constitutional right for Kenyans to enjoy clean environment. I am also privileged to be a member of the committee that is mandated to make follow ups and ensure that recommendations by the departmental committees are implemented to the letter. I also happen to be a member of the subcommittee led by Hon. Osotsi which visited that factory recently. The fact of the matter is that there is tremendous improvement. During our first visit, there was open sewer and waste from the factory was just flowing into the river. The factory was also dependent 100 per cent on fuel which had high sulphur content. Actually, there was a foul smell. We could hardly breathe during our first visit. But on our recent visit, a lot of things which were not there before had taken place. Notable among them, is a plant for generating biogas as a source of energy from the waste generated by the factory. We also realised that the foul smell which was there then, was not there anymore. It is tolerable. Now, we had a lot of challenges as a committee because every time we mandated NEMA to carry out assessments internally or using prequalified laboratories, their reports used to be disputed by the petitioner. It reached a point where we forced the three parties – NEMA, LDK and Edermann – to work together. I just came back from Glasgow last night. I was also privileged to be among a few Members who were nominated to represent National Assembly in the Kenyan delegation. The world is moving towards the net zero carbon meaning that you try to come up with technologies to ensure that whatever emission is made, you have a way of capturing it so that the net release of effluent to environment is zero. Unfortunately, these technologies are very expensive. Having said that, we need to encourage LDK to keep on improving. We are also in receipt of other petitions from other factories and NEMA is constrained in terms of being and able to carry out its regulatory mandate – it is not funded well. We need to see a way in which NEMA is funded properly so that it can continuously monitor all factories including sugar factories so that Kenyans can enjoy access to clean air and clean environment. I support the adoption of this Report. Thank you."
}