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{
"id": 205647,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/205647/?format=api",
"text_counter": 149,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Kibunguchy",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Health",
"speaker": {
"id": 294,
"legal_name": "Enoch Wamalwa Kibunguchy",
"slug": "enoch-kibunguchy"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir for giving me this chance to say one or two things about the Vote of this Ministry. At the outset, I would like to say that I commend the Minister and his team for the work they have done so far, although there are a number of areas they would have done better. I would like to start off by talking about the Eldoret International Airport. Eldoret International Airport was in the news at the beginning of this Government's tenure when it was closed for sometime. At that time, it was said that it was because of political reasons. I come from that part of the country and the closure caused a major inconvenience to most of us who use that airport. Since then, the airport was re-opened but it has not been given the attention it deserves. Eldoret International Airport is a strategic institution, in my view, because it is an airport that can reduce, substantially, the volume of goods that come to Nairobi from Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and the eastern parts of Uganda. Those are the areas, including the western parts of Kenya, that would greatly benefit from this airport. I would like to urge the Minister, in his reply, to tell us what plans he has for Eldoret International Airport. I am made to understand that big planes cannot land in Eldoret because the runway is short by a kilometre. However, the facility, I am sure you have been there, is excellent. So, if the only shortcoming is about the runway, then I think we can find money to lengthen it and tap the potential that is available in those areas. Eldoret International Airport will be ideal for September 5, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3709 people in those areas that are involved in horticulture. There is quite a bit of volume of horticultural products that come from western Kenya. People in those areas rear livestock. Again, it would be an ideal institution to transport beef and other animal products from those parts of the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have talked about our surrounding neighbours who will use that airport. So, as I stand here, I would like to urge the Minister, very passionately and strongly, that he needs to put in some money to make that facility accommodate very large planes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my second point has been highlighted by many hon. Members. It is about our railway line. We know that our roads have been destroyed by huge trucks that use our roads to transport goods to and from the Port of Mombasa. It is now a nightmare to drive from Nairobi to Eldoret and beyond. It is a complete nightmare! But we also know and appreciate the saying: \"There is no gain without pain\". So, we know that our roads are being done. We would like to commend the Government for that. But we also know that it will just be a matter of time, if those huge trucks continue to use the constructed roads, before they fall apart again. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many hon. Members have said that, maybe, we need to look at the concessioning that we did. That is because since the railway line was concessioned, I do not see anything being done in terms of improvement, operationalization and getting the railway line to play the role it is supposed to play. So, I would like to urge the Minister and the people who took up the management of the railway - the Rift Valley Group--- If they do not measure up to the task, I think it will only be fair for the people of Kenya for the Ministry to move in and re-negotiate that concessioning. If not, it should cancel it altogether. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my third point - and I am glad the Minister mentioned it when he was moving this Vote - is about the Port of Mombasa being a free port. I wish that process could be speeded up because I am meant to understand--- I am not an expert in that line, but I am meant to understand that, once we get the free port of Mombasa, if nothing else, it will create more than the magical 500,000 jobs a year that we all keep on talking about. So, maybe, when the Minister comes to reply, he will tell the House and the country how far he has gone towards that process, and whether it is something that is coming up in the very near future. Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the transport industry in this country as a whole. We complain day and night about the overloading in matatus . We complain day and night about over-speeding and the accidents that are caused. I know the Minister has made it very clear that theirs is only policy formulation. But I would like to ask the Minister and his team to liaise very, very closely with the Police Department, so that we can reduce the road carnage that is witnessed, day in, day out, in this country. If, as the Assistant Minister has said, the matatu industry has the ingenuity to circumvent the speed governors--- In medicine, we always say that you must be able to find an anti-dote to that. I would like to urge the Minister and his team to move quickly to find an anti-dote to whatever is being done. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}