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"id": 192998,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ombui",
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"legal_name": "Wilfred Moriasi Ombui",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to 1304 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 19, 2008 contribute to the Motion on the Budget. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the Budget for this year, the Minister gave a very good background of where he based the Budget. We are expecting a lot out of it. He spelt out his main objectives for implementing the Budget. I mean the objectives which he intends to achieve by the end of the period. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Budget seems to cover a very wide area and almost all the sectors of the economy. We expect to have a very big improvement in terms of growth and development in the country at the end of the budget period. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, to start with, the Budget dwells a lot on specific areas. But I am more interested about infrastructure and, specifically, roads. For any economic growth to occur in a specific area, there must be a highly developed roads network to assist individuals involved in either trade or agricultural production to transport their commodities to specific centres. Roads have been allocated Kshs65 billion and, in that case, we expect a lot of development. As many hon. Members have said, roads in some specific areas have not been properly addressed. You will find roads that have taken more than five years to complete, when they are supposed to take about three years! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are potential areas that need to be connected with good roads so that agricultural produce and other commodities from those areas can be taken to the markets for trading. I come from an area where the road system is not at all adequate. But the area is potentially rich in terms of agricultural production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in most cases, tenders are awarded and, at the end of the day, roads are not developed at specific points. But with that kind of allocation, almost all the roads that have been tendered and awarded can be constructed. I have in mind a very important road in my constituency which connects Rift Valley and Nyanza and, subsequently, a very potential district which is very rich in the production of crops. If that area is well tapped, we can have a huge production of crops like tea, maize and so on. That road connects Chepilate and Chabera in my constituency. It connects Rift Valley with Nyanza Province and, at the same time, connects the northern part of the province to the southern part of the province. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the construction of roads, the Minister indicated that we shall have labour-intensive methods of maintaining our roads. But in most cases, I believe that, if the money for roads maintenance is properly channelled through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) Committees and, in that case, is handled by Members of Parliament, we can have proper maintenance of roads. In most cases, money is channelled through the District Roads Boards but, it is not properly used. The officers in charge do not conduct proper monitoring of how those roads are maintained. At the end of the day, you are told: \"This road has been maintained!\" But when you drive along it, you find that nothing has been done. The money has already been taken. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I recommend that Members of Parliament must be involved in the roads maintenance process in their constituencies. They must have a say over the maintenance of those roads. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, still on infrastructure, I notice that airstrips are not under the control of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA). Most of those airstrips are not properly maintained! My recommendation is that, if possible, we should have airstrips under the control of KAA. That way, those airstrips will be improved. They will assist areas which do not have airports. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to electricity, a lot of money has just been allocated to the Ministry of Energy. It is important for the Ministry to reduce the cost of supplying electricity. Payments should be structured in such a way that poor people can pay them over a longer period of time. Once they pay a specific deposit, they should be allowed to pay the June 19, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1305 remaining balance for, let us say, one or two years, so that every person in the locality can be able to afford electricity, which is a necessity in life. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to Information Communication Technology (ICT), the Minister has taken a very good move. But I recommend that we start the subject of ICT right from primary and secondary schools so that, every person in the country can learn about ICT. The Minister has, at the same time, reduced the licences that are charged for specific businesses. But I want to caution that: Let us not use the reduction in the number of licences to increase the fees charged for specific licences. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to industrialisati on, the Minister has set aside Kshs300 million to cater for seven areas in the country. But it is very unfortunate that the area where I come from has not been catered for. Kisii region produces a lot of bananas hence we require a banana processing industry. Nyamira District produces pineapples in large quantities. If we set up a factory to process pineapples, we could assist the local women who always run across the roads looking for a market for their fruits. That way, we could give them an income to assist them in their economic growth. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the youth, although we are stressing that we need to create employment for them, but they must be very seriously engaged to know how they can get that income. We can create employment for the youth by reviving youth polytechnics and introducing courses that will enable them to acquire specific skills. At the same time, it can assist them to work and earn a living. This is very important, and we hope this can be addressed. With regard to the issue of reduction of the general prices, the Minister has clearly indicated that there will be a reduction of prices of essential commodities. But, as we speak, there is no reduction in the price of bread, sugar and even fertiliser, which is also very important as far as agricultural production is concerned. So, we recommend that the prices of these commodities be reduced. But in most cases, it is not possible for any businessman to reduce the prices of these commodities unless the issue of the escalating prices of fuel is addressed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the issue of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in most cases, we have found out that a good number of our people although they have been resettled, they have not been well catered for. We request the Government to make sure that these people are well catered for to enable to them to settle down. The Minister also talked about water. Water is a necessity and it must be addressed. The Government should provide water to our people. Lastly, let me talk about the issue of taxing allowances for hon. Members. This is very embarrassing---"
}