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{
"id": 204345,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/204345/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Prof. Maathai",
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"speaker": {
"id": 226,
"legal_name": "Wangari Muta Maathai",
"slug": "wangari-maathai"
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. I would like to congratulate Mr. Oparanya for bringing this Motion, which is very timely considering the disasters that have happened in this country for a long time. When I looked at some of the examples that the hon. Member has given, with some very few exceptions such as the HIV/AIDS, all those disasters can be associated with environmental degradation. I found that to be very interesting. The highland malaria, for example, is a phenomenon that is, sometimes, associated with global warming due to climate change. The mosquitoes that spread malaria find it much easier to live in the highlands. They could not live there previously because it was very cold. Swamp fever is another disease that is closely associated with settlement in the swamps. That disease is caused by the fact that, in search of land, people tend to settle in areas where they could not settle before, such as the swamps. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, news on floods have been hitting newspaper headlines in recent times, mainly in Budalang'i and the coastal areas. As we have mentioned in this House on many occasions, destruction of our mountains is the reason why we have some of these floods, especially in Budalang'i. We will never be able to protect the people of Budalang'i until we go back to Cherengani Hills and deal with the deforestation in that area, so that we do not have soil erosion and siltation in the river. Even if you go today and raise the dykes, next year more silt will come and settle in Budalang'i area. 3858 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 12, 2007 Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, so, you will have to go back and raise the dykes even higher. I, really, do not see why we do not make the linkage. What we need to do is to go and deal with the settlement and the destruction of the forests upstream. Drought is very much driven by removal of the vegetation, deforestation and, especially, our inability to harvest rain water. Again, in this House we have mentioned so many times that we need to harvest rain water. This country gets a lot of water but we let it flow. I do not know if anybody ever studies the HANSARD and sees how many times we have raised the issue. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, can the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, and the Ministry of Agriculture get together and make sure that every drop of water that falls in this country is harvested, even if it is harvested by allowing it flow into underground reservoirs? If we do not do that, drought will continue to affect, especially, our ASAL areas, where slight changes in climate and the weather pattern causes disaster, especially to the people who live in those areas. Of course, when we have drought, there is usually crop failure and subsequent famine. So, if we really---"
}