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{
    "id": 1346589,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1346589/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 107,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwea, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Maingi",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to make my statement. Pursuant to Standing Order 44(2) (c), I wish to request a Statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Blue Economy, Water and Irrigation regarding the status and development of the on-farm roads in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme. Mwea Irrigation Settlement Scheme is the largest rice-producing scheme in the country, contributing approximately 20 per cent of the domestic rice that is consumed in the country. The scheme, which covers an area of about 30,000 hectares, is fully developed under irrigation for paddy rice production. The cost of transporting one bag of rice from the rice farms to the main road has risen from Ksh200 to Ksh500 in some areas due to the impassable state of the on-farm roads. Consequently, this has increased the cost of rice production substantially, and this is what the Kenya Kwanza Government is seeking to reduce. The current approach to scheme management is Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), where the Government, through the National Irrigation Authority, and the farmers, through their organizations, have partnered in the management of the irrigation scheme. The rice farmers contribute up to Ksh5,000 annually to the National Irrigation Authority as an operation and management (O&M) fee. Out of this, Ksh3,000 is for the main crop and Ksh2,000 for the ratoon. It is against this background that I seek a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Blue Economy, Water and Irrigation on the following: 1. What is the status of on-farm roads within the Mwea Rice Scheme, with details on how the operation and maintenance fee paid by farmers totalling approximately Ksh150 million every year is spent? 2. Audit of the accounts of the said operations and management fees for the last three years. 3. Explain reasons why the Scheme Management Committee, as provided for in Section 8(2) (c) of the Irrigation Act, 2019, has not been put in place to date. 4. Information on when the last distilling of feeder canals and drainage took place in the Mwea Irrigation Settlement Scheme. I thank you, Hon. Speaker."
}