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{
    "id": 137891,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/137891/?format=api",
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    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, floods are about conservation. I know there is a component of floods that is stuck in the Office of the President, under the Ministry of Special Programmes. That, again, is wrong. Floods should be under the Ministry of Water and Irrigation which can make plans for harnessing the floods as part of the conservation effort. We should have a holistic approach to planning on our water resources. I am concerned, just like the Committee has indicated about governance in the newly formed bodies, especially the water service boards. Recently, there was an increase in the tariffs in the Tana Water Service Board, where I come from. Residents were required to pay Kshs500 up from Kshs200. This is an increase of almost 150 per cent. The Mission Statement of this Ministry says; “To make water accessible and affordable. You cannot raise the tariffs by 150 per cent and think that you are living up to your Mission Statement. I am glad that after talking to the Minister, consulting and exchanging correspondence with the Ministry officials, this was dropped. This was done without consulting the stakeholders. The real issue is not about raising tariffs, but improving service delivery and number of connections or coverage. You raise more money from the turnover than punishing the residents with a higher tariff. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of irrigation, I urge the Minister to ensure that they support and give capacity to the small-holder irrigation schemes which are found wherever there is water in this country, so that they can have optimal use of water. The Ministry should educate them on methods that use less water for more yield. I come from one such area. I am unable to see how the Ministry has allocated the Kshs24 billion. When I used my calculator, I found that even if each constituency got Kshs40 million upfront, that would only amount to Kshs8.2 billion. I am aware that the Ministry has many things to do, including urban water, sewerage, irrigation et cetera. I have noticed that there is only Kshs3 billion for dam construction. I urge the Minister, in her response, to demonstrate that there is equity in the allocation so that we can deal with two items in our constituencies. That is water for domestic use as well as irrigation and the storage issue. I also want to say that it is time the Minister considered differentiated tariffs, especially in urban areas, where people in the well-to-do areas pay slightly more for water than those in the disadvantaged areas. This way, you will be able to serve the poor in the cities by providing them water at a subsidized rate."
}