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"id": 1480063,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1480063/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Aden Duale",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry",
"speaker": {
"id": 15,
"legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
"slug": "aden-duale"
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"content": "of Nairobi City County that he must remove dumpsites along Nairobi River. We are going to call to order the companies that he has contracted to carry garbage, including the private ones that come to our homesteads to pick up garbage. We will sit down with them and have a conversation on this matter. The biggest environmental challenge in our country is that waste management is devolved. Pollution and zoning are also devolved. No county in Kenya today can tell you which dumpsite they have. We see garbage falling off trucks as we drive behind them. We will introduce very strict measures. Dumpsites are another source of pollution. Solid waste goes into the river. Informal settlements contribute very little. Hon. Temporary Speaker, allow me to just make a joke. The person who lives in informal settlement cleans his plates. He does not need to wash it. The food he has is very little. So, what will he throw away? The people who throw out huge amounts of garbage are those in the middle class and the industries, who then blame their mess on people living in informal settlements. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the other group is that which builds or encroaches on the riparian lands. When I saw the Question from Hon. Kajwang’, I was very happy because it would allow me to address the issue from the Floor of this House. I have written to the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers. Big companies dump their effluent. The law allows them, and the Environmental Management and Coordination Act allows them, and they provide how their effluent is discharged. Let me accept it. Somebody somewhere failed because of corruption, and greed and nobody wanted to protect the environment. The NEMA had teeth. The Director-General transferred a number of people, but they go to big people and they are returned to their stations. All NEMA officials in the city were transferred, including the County Director, who had very powerful connections. I read former Minister’s, the late John Michuki, notes. He had a good vision. Mzee Moi, when he started the mmonyoko wa udongo, people used to laugh at him. If we could have picked from where he left off, our forest cover, which is 10.3 per cent, could have been 35 per cent. Ethiopia, our neighbour, has grown 36 billion trees in 10 years. So far, we have 451 million. Every Cabinet Secretary has a county. I am ready to work with every Member here to give you the seedlings, to work with KEFRI and KFS. Hon. Temporary Speaker, where you come from, you have seen what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does. The UNHCR, and I want you to support me, is the global United Nations entity that takes care of the interests of refugees. They must provide an alternative energy source. They have cut a lot of trees over the years. I told the UNHCR Country Director that it will not be business as usual. I will go with you to Dadaab. I told them that I had the backing of all the Members of Parliament from that area. They are even killing giraffes and selling them. All of us must protect the environment. Hon. TJ, I have told you who is polluting, and we will deal with them. As regards what we are doing about it, we are removing all dump sites and structures along riparian land. Hon. TJ, help us on regeneration of Nairobi River. We lost 42 people during the floods. We are not ready to lose any other life. We are not ready. The Mathare River and the Ngong River… Hon. Member for Mathare lost many people. We must bite the Headquarters for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). We have a green Constitution. We must have the Nairobi River like the Thames River. At one time, the Thames River was a sludge. Today, the Thames River is a great transport hub in London. In addition to this intervention, the Nairobi River Commission was established by His Excellency the President. I think the Member has the answer to its story. He asked a second question to the effect that I outline the number of facilities along the Nairobi River that discharge effluents. I have answered that. The NEMA has conducted an inspection to identify 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."
}