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{
    "id": 1497077,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1497077/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 72,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Bura, UPIA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Yakub Adow",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Hon. Speaker, pursuant to the provisions of Standing Order 44(2)(c), I wish to request for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure regarding the impact of the ongoing road works by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) at Kona Punda area along the Mororo-Nairobi Highway in Bura Constituency. Hon. Speaker, early this year, the country experienced heavy rains. Although the rains were a blessing following the devastating drought that was witnessed in the preceding year, the rains also caused adverse effects in Bura Constituency, among other constituencies in Kenya. In Bura Constituency, River Tana burst its banks, changed its course and traversed Mororo Town which was affected by heavy flooding. The flood waters caused the loss of forty-three lives, displacement of residents and destruction of property, farms, infrastructure and livestock in Mororo and Madogo areas and their environs. Hon. Speaker, after the water levels subsided, KeNHA commenced works to rehabilitate the washed away sections of the Mororo-Nairobi highway at Kona Punda area, near Mororo Town. The residents of Mororo are concerned that KeNHA has been constructing huge culverts at the area without having undertaken due consideration of the environmental and social impacts of the project. The residents of Mororo feel less integrated in the ongoing works, which also places them at the risk of losing access to their farmlands. Further, huge clouds of dust from the construction site are polluting the environment and exposing residents, including pedestrians and boda boda riders, together with their pillion passengers, to respiratory hazards as they go about with their activities. Hon. Speaker, it is against this background that I request for a statement from the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Transport and Infrastructure on the following— 1. A report on the environmental and social impact assessment and public engagement undertaken by KeNHA regarding the construction of culverts across the new course of River Tana at Kona Punda, including the justification for regularizing the new course instead of taking measures to revert the waters to its original course; 2. Compensation plans, if any, for residents of Mororo and Madogo who are affected by the ongoing road rehabilitation works by KeNHA, particularly for the farmlands that are likely to be lost; 3. Measures put in place to manage or reduce the dust caused from the construction works in order to guarantee a conducive environment for road users, particularly boda boda riders, and residents living near the site; and, 4. A report on the skilled and unskilled locals that KeNHA has engaged in the ongoing construction of culverts at Kona Punda and a new Bridge, specifying the number, names, and categories for both skilled and unskilled labourers."
}