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"id": 179807,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. ole Metito",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Regional Development Authorities",
"speaker": {
"id": 199,
"legal_name": "Judah Katoo Ole-Metito",
"slug": "judah-ole-metito"
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"content": " Thank you so much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute in support of this Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, environment is one of the natural resources given by God. We ought to protect it at all costs. I want to support this Motion that calls for measures to protect the environment. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the main problems is co-ordination. Kenya is a signatory to very many international conventions that aim to protect the environment. However, the problem has been to co-ordinate the policies under one umbrella to enable us get effective and efficient results. For example, one of the greatest natural resource that we have is forest. We are directing this Motion to the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources while forests fall under another Ministry. When we talk about co-ordinating environmental issues, we need to put all of them under the same umbrella. I would even propose that this Ministry should have been called the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. In this case, all the issues that pertain to environment would be under this Ministry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, at times, lack of co-ordination causes collusion amongst the officers on the ground. When we talk about protecting forests, and then we talk about National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) which is under the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, that is where lack of clear definition of role and responsibilities with regard to Government agencies comes in. Nevertheless, one of the issues which need to be addressed by this Motion is our forest cover. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the internationally required standard is 10 per cent of the land mass. In Kenya right now, the forest cover is actually below 1 per cent. I am informed that it is about 0.3 per cent of our land mass, which is way far below the internationally accepted standard. As one of my colleagues said, I want to kindly request leaders, including the Members of Parliament, to stop politicing environmental issues. Whenever we politicise conservation of the environment, we are not doing justice to the people that we represent in this House. When we do not protect our rivers, many things, as my colleagues have said, go wrong. First, we will become a food insecure country. When we do not protect our rivers, health related diseases will come. When we do not protect our forests, we are bound to see a rise in temperatures and many climate changes. I want to say that we are getting confused by the agencies that purport to protect the environment. We have very many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which come in the name of conservation. We want to have this Bill put together, all the measures that will bring those agencies together. When we talk of NGOs that are concerned with environmental conservation and natural resources, they conserve the sources of the rivers, but there are many interests that actually stop them from doing that. I would like to request the Ministry concerned to liaise with the Mover of this Motion, so that the right policies are put in place to bring about the proposed institution, so that it can co- ordinate, plan and implement the policies concerned with environmental conservation . There is also lack of capacity and technical capability of some of the institutions that 3398 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 12, 2008 protect the environment. It is time we passed the proposed Bill to give those institutions the legal backing and the required mobilisation and support. There is also the issue of the rising population. Even if the population is really on the increase, that should not be an excuse for us to encroach on the conserved forests. Look at the Mau Forest issue. It is said that prevention is better than cure. Had we prevented the encroachment of the Mau Forest, we would be talking of another story now. Since it was allowed, whether legally or not, it is not very difficult to get those people out of there. We have to get them out in order to protect the environment. I am just trying to request hon. Members to put the legal framework together and implement it very effectively. Let us give those agencies that implement the legal framework the resources required and the technical know-how for the protection of our environment. I beg to support."
}