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"id": 196468,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/196468/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Musyoka",
"speaker_title": "The Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs",
"speaker": {
"id": 188,
"legal_name": "Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka",
"slug": "kalonzo-musyoka"
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"content": " Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I was hesitating because you were still on your feet and I am supposed to freeze or sit down. Now that you are comfortably seated, I want, on behalf of the Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources, to give a very brief response. I have spoken to the Minister, Mr. Michuki, who is still settling in his office, but fortunately for him, I am the one who established his office at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Building. When I was the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, I dealt with this matter of the menace this country is suffering as a result of the proliferation of not just the plants themselves, but the sheer menace of plastics in our economy. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to congratulate the Member for Yatta for being so foresighted and for having introduced this Motion at this time, which seeks to establish a Plastic Control Bill. We notice that he does not intend to do away with the plastic industry. Clearly, if he talked to the Maasai herdsmen and all the pastoralists on the amount of loss they have suffered as a result of the death of their cattle; their only source of livelihood, and then we can begin to see how serious this problem is. In Rwanda, where I was privileged to visit in February this year, as you land in Kigali, you April 16, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 485 are not supposed to be in possession of anything plastic. It has to be left at the airport. The country gave a blanket banning of all manner of plastics. When moving the Motion, Mr. C. Kilonzo said that we are talking about 110 to 115 plastic plants, generating very handsome figures in terms of employment levels, and yet we know the biggest challenge we are faced with as a country is lack of employment opportunities for our youth. Clearly, we would not want to off-load these people again into the streets. Therefore, the need to regulate this industry cannot be gain-said. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, at that time, we worked very closely with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). They even recommended that within one year, they were going to improve the length or the width of all manner of plastics. But as has been shown by Mr. C. Kilonzo, they were not able to deliver in time. So, that procrastination would be dealt with under the proposed Plastic Control Bill. Therefore, once again I want to congratulate hon. C. Kilonzo for bringing this matter before this House. I think he has started very well. As Ms. Shabesh was saying, Mr. C. Kilonzo may not be that young, but I think he is very experienced now. For him to have come up with this Motion at this particular time, certainly indicates that he is a very serious legislator. We will support him in this particular Bill and, indeed, in his works as one of the most agile legislators during this Tenth Parliament. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, I want to commend the people who took the challenge like the Nakumatt Group of Companies, who came up with bio-degradable materials, so that when you do your shopping, immediately you drop the material, it naturally disappears. We have also to realise that although it was reported that Kenya lost its claim on the"
}