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{
    "id": 1376510,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1376510/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 395,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to address significant concerns in the proposed amendments to how water as a commodity will be handled, especially concerning the proposals put in place in terms of privatising the sector. They are allowing private players to come in and play a significant role. Water is a basic requirement of life. It must be availed to the population in a manner that is not exploitative. It must be availed in a manner that people do not make a profit out of it. There is a Petition from Runda Estate residents in the Nairobi City County Assembly. There is a private company supplying water to the estate. They are complaining that the company charges them about five or six times what the Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company charges. A private player will come in to make a profit on a basic commodity. Water should remain with the municipalities to ensure efficiency so that water can be availed in proper quantities. Otherwise, private actors will assume that the informal settlement may not afford the water they supply, hence not providing water to the residents. We should look at the issue of privatising the sector. We could allow private actors to play a significant role at the base level. It would be okay for companies to purify water and sell it in bottles. However, selling and distributing water in pipes should be restricted. How will you allow competition when you allow a company to sell water in an area? Will the area be bound by the person who laid the pipes? This would mean they could only get water from this vendor and not any other."
}