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{
"id": 196448,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/196448/?format=api",
"text_counter": 37,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Mwiria",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 190,
"legal_name": "Valerian Kilemi Mwiria",
"slug": "kilemi-mwiria"
},
"content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it seems as if the problem is much more of general lack of discipline and appreciation for cleanliness, as has been said. It is not uncommon to find April 16, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 477 people driving big cars throwing cigarette packets and plastic bottles out of their windows after they are done with the product they had been consuming. It is just that people do not appreciate it. It is like they say: You can take a donkey to the river, but you cannot force it to drink the water! So, there are many educated people--- We tend to only blame the rural folk. But some of the culprits--- Some of the people who are the most careless with the use of plastic--- Some of the people whom you can identify with certain types of dirty practises; whether it is the chewing of miraa and you just throw it around or throwing bottles all over the place--- I think they are people with some education. So, the issue, firstly, is one of discipline. Secondly, the relevant authorities, including the Government, providing facilities for disposal along highways, towns and urban centres, schools, churches and other social facilities. Again, talking about problems of lack of places for disposal of waste, you go along highways and see people come out of big cars and go into the bushes to relieve themselves. There are no facilities. If you go to many of the industrialised countries, you will find that along highways, there are places that you can go to toilets and dispose of waste. In addition, we, therefore, cannot just blame people. We also need to ask what it is that the relevant authorities have put in place to assist with regard to where we can throw garbage. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, there must also be possibilities on punishment on the spot. That happens only with the Nairobi City Council. But if you go to our local authorities and other social places, people realise that they can do whatever they like because there is no possibility of any punishment. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, yes, legislation is necessary. But it will get nowhere if we do not bring aboard all the relevant players that will include manufacturers, traders, wholesalers, retailers, scientists, politicians and leaders to sit together and agree on what types of policies will be acceptable. It is one thing to just decide on a policy and law, but it is another thing to decide on a policy that is acceptable by the people who have to be the subject of its application. Again, it is not going to be adequate if we do not address the whole issue of overall legislation related to pollution in general; whether it touches on vehicles or not. There are too many smoking vehicles around. It is like you can just drive a vehicle across the city or anywhere else and it does not matter how much it emits smoke because there is no punishment. In terms of noise pollution, there is very loud music in matatus, churches and all over the place. There is also the issue of drainage that has been spoken about. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, it is also important for us to strengthen the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) to be able to impose relevant measures to ensure that the kinds of plastics that are used, manufactured or imported are of standards when it comes to disposing or recycling them. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we also need to think of alternative technology. If plastic technology is more or less imported, we, as Kenyans with so much unemployment, and with other local products; what kind of products could we come up with that would be used locally and eventually be exported? In this way, we would not only be using locally available resources, but we will also create employment for our people, in addition to creating awareness and coming up with a product about which there are no much complaints about. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we must, however, also insist that local authorities, in addition to the major authorities and the Government, have specific votes to allocate budgets to deal with this whole issue in terms of the creation of collection points and relevant employment for young people that can go around collecting. Even if we do not have disposal points, I think given the crisis that we have with unemployment in this country, it is possible for our local authorities to be able to afford to employ a team of 100 young people with the responsibility of just collecting garbage, including plastics. 478 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES April 16, 2008 Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, finally, it is a whole issue about again cleanliness. As I said from the outset, it is not so much about that we use plastics with those uses as much as it is consumed elsewhere, but it is just about that touch of cleanliness. That needs to be taught right from school, in barazas of our local leaders, chiefs, politicians, Members of Parliament and very high authorities, including the President. We should make the whole issue of cleanliness a national matter like we have made the HIV/AIDS pandemic and rape important issues that we talk about. This must be a subject that we leaders must continually talk about to be able to create awareness that will make it unnecessary for people to litter plastics wherever they think they can easily dispose them off. Madame Temporary Deputy Speaker, I really hope the Mover of this Motion will move with speed and that we will pass this particular Bill for the sake of eradicating some of the problems that have been associated with the use of plastics. More importantly also to begin to create the necessary awareness that will make it not so much of a problem to talk about plastics, but much more about how it is used and disposed off. I beg to support."
}