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{
"id": 1191854,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1191854/?format=api",
"text_counter": 276,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dagoretti South, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. John Kiarie",
"speaker": null,
"content": "were on their way up the escarpment, they came across a small, swampy flat land. There was a small market called Kanyonyo, around and about where this Parliament sits today. They saw it to be a flat and beautiful area, and thought it would be a good place to construct the city. They changed their plans and decided that instead of putting up the city in Masaku, they would put it up where Nairobi sits today. At that point, they were looking for the cool waters that came from the Kikuyu Springs and provisions of food from the northern sides. They thought that the eastern sides, where Kangundo and Embakasi are currently, would be a good place for workers on the railway line to set up their houses. So, Ainsworth started designing a city called Nairobi. Ainsworth was informed by the model of the then apartheid movement. He drew the capital city and the Central Business District (CBD) in a grid formation, all the way down to Grogan Road. He decided to set up the high-end areas of living in Lavington, Kileleshwa, and Kilimani. He decided that Asians could reside across the river in Ngara, Highridge, Parklands and Westlands. He further decided that the natives, the Africans, could be set up somewhere around Muthurwa, so that they could get their provisions from the northern and eastern sides around Kangundo. They set up a city. What they did not know is that they were setting up a city in the time of La Nina . Soon afterwards, the colonialists regretted when El Nino rains started beating the city. Immediately, Ainsworth realised that Nairobi was actually a non-drainable swamp. There is a lot of water that was captured in this small swamp called Nairobi. It was un-motorable, un-livable, mosquito-infested and one big pond. Mr. Ainsworth did not have the technology to drain the city and he searched far and wide. He did a big search and spin, and a solution came in the form of exotic trees in the name of the blue gum tree which we now call Eucalyptus. Out of science, Mr. Ainsworth learnt that the blue gum tree is able to absorb water in larger quantities than any other. He then set upon and planted so many blue gum trees in this city. If you walk down to the National Theatre and the Norfolk area, you can see the relics of those trees – big massive trees and probably, of over a hundred years old. He, however, did not stop at the City. He set up to plant more of those trees along the roads. Ngong Road before its expansion was lined up with many trees all the way to Karen. There were also trees lined up on both sides of Waiyaki Way. Those trees had also been planted around State House and the Arboretum for more than a century. Hon. Temporary Speaker, in our recent efforts to construct roads, we have unfortunately cut down all the trees that Mr. Ainsworth planted over a century ago. With the new technology, we have come to learn that there are trees which are not good for the environment, blue gum tree being one of them. However, the efforts of the founders of this City were noble and well informed. Beyond the blue gum trees, Nairobi had trees planted all over. When growing up, Dagoretti Constituency would start from Gigiri to near Kikuyu, and this was the green side of the City with a beautiful tree cover. When I went to school, I remember seeing James Gichuru Road with a beautiful canopy of Jacaranda trees. It was amazing when the full bloom was in season. You could see beautiful, purple flowers of Jacaranda trees lining along James Gichuru to Dagoretti Corner. However, with the construction of roads, those trees have been felled, and no one knows where the timber was taken to. As we built our roads, we cut out all the greenery and trees along them, and we 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."
}