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{
    "id": 138810,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/138810/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 540,
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    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Number two, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, is the question of harvesting exotic plantations. Mr. Sirma, I was a Forester twenty years ago. I was in charge of that department. As far as I know, exotic plantations are supposed to be harvested between 18 and 24 years. If they pass those years, they tend to rot and, in fact, as of now in my constituency, the trees have over-matured and they are even becoming a safety issue – they are falling on roads and are rotting! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I understand that there are 10,000 hectares of mature exotic plantations worth Kshs20 billion. What is holding the Ministry from just going ahead and harvesting those plantations to get resources which can be ploughed back to enable the new Forestry Service to be operational? In fact, there is enough timber to open Pan Paper Mills in Webuye. In fact, hon. Members from Webuye have been raising issues about that factory because it is a lifeline for the people of Webuye. Other governance issues can be sorted out. There is enough timber even to keep that factory going. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, enough resources have not been given to the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), and I want it to operate like an extension service and do what Kenya Agricultural Research Foundation (KARI) is doing – an extension service involving research, extension. We are talking about resources for tree planting. We want to move Kenya from having a forest cover of 1.7 per cent now to 10 per cent. We sing the song all the time in many fora, but no resources are allocated to achieve that end."
}