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{
"id": 187817,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187817/?format=api",
"text_counter": 216,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Wekesa",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Forestry and Wildlife",
"speaker": {
"id": 209,
"legal_name": "Noah Mahalang'ang'a Wekesa",
"slug": "noah-wekesa"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the outset, I would like to second this Motion. As you are aware, our economy is essentially driven by provision of energy. I want to commend the Minister for the efforts he has undertaken, not only this year but over the last two to three years as well. Hon. Members will agree with me that there is a definite improvement of electrification not only of our rural areas but also in our industrial areas. This has been particularly notable in the last two years. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in my own constituency, we had never seen an electricity line but as a result of the Minister's efforts over the last two years, we can now boast that Kwanza constituency has electricity. I am sure that many constituencies have now experienced the Ministry's efforts of trying to reach out not only to the urban areas but also to our rural areas. This effort must be supported by all of us. We note that the Minister has an ambitious programme, particularly in trying even to introduce cheaper methods of producing power. It is unfortunate that we, in Kenya, do not have natural resources like coal, oil and gas. However, as the Minister hopes, somewhere in Kenya, there could be oil or gas. We need to allocate more money to the research aspect of this effort, because I do not believe that our entire North Eastern and Eastern Provinces do not have anything. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am sure we can get oil or gas, but that can only be realised if more research and funding is provided for exploring the availability of these alternative means of energy. I am particularly impressed with the amount of money that has been put aside for tree planting. This is a source of energy that we have been used to for many years. Our rural communities depend very much on wood fuel, and even our factories would do well with wood fuel. For example, PanPaper Mills is finding it very difficult to use the usual energy that we know of, and is looking at other sources of energy to try and reduce the cost of energy. It is, indeed, a responsibility for all us to go round our constituencies and encourage Kenyans to plant trees, so that they can have charcoal and avoid the expensive sources of energy by using charcoal. Charcoal is a resource of energy that we can find from wood. Very soon, we shall find that a Bill will be brought to this House to address the issue of availability of charcoal. So far, when you talk of charcoal we think that it is illegal to use charcoal. That is just because we have not addressed the issue properly. Indeed, you can produce charcoal on your farm and use it domestically, or for industrial purposes. So, a Bill will soon be brought to this House to address that. Therefore, I commend the Minister for setting aside some money for planting trees in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, biofuel is being used by very many countries. Two years ago I was in Brazil, and was impressed that Brazil, as a country, has put more resources in biofuel. Most of their cars use biofuel and they have reduced the cost of energy. So, this is an area that we should be looking at. I am also looking at the issue of capacity building that the Minister has addressed. We know that we have very many power cuts, and that does a lot of damage to the industries. It inconveniences housewives and so on. We would like to ask the Minister to ensure that, as he addresses the issue of capacity building, the delivery of electricity is rectified. Every week there is a power cut, and this is happening more these days than it used to happen before. So, I always wonder why we have so many regular power cuts. Is it because of poor management of technology? This is an area that the Minister should look into very carefully; when you talk to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) they will tell you that they suffer a lot when we have power cuts, because they deal with industries that either process food or produce perishable goods. So, the regular power cuts that occur cause a lot of damage. That is an area that I 2154 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 29, 2008 request the Minister to address as he continues the good job that he is doing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the rural electrification programme that I have referred to, has been provided with Kshs11 billion. We would like to see it on the ground. We would like to see it in our constituencies. We made promises and also the Government promised to put up projects in our rural areas. We would like that to be effected. I am thinking that when the President goes around and does indicate, on request of Members of Parliament, that we should have power installation or a transformer somewhere, that is taken seriously by the Ministry, because it is a directive by the Government and it should be implemented. I will soon be visiting the Minister to indicate to him that in my constituency there are projects that the Government should be attending to. With those few remarks, I beg to second."
}