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{
"id": 207601,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/207601/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Lesrima",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 178,
"legal_name": "Simon Saimanga Lesirma",
"slug": "simon-lesirma"
},
"content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other point I want to make is with regard to the establishment of more dams. A lot of water from rivers goes to waste, and we need to dam them because I believe the cost of managing such dams is less than the cost of managing boreholes. Talking about dams, we require designs that are durable. Numerous Questions have been raised in this House with regard to dams that collapse during floods. I think more effort should be made to ensure that the dams that are created are durable. With regard also to dams, in terms of designs, it would be good to have dams that allow the utilisation of water both by livestock and human beings in pastoralist areas, using separate troughs. We have seen very good examples of good dams under a project by the Netherlands in Kajiado, where a dam is constructed, piping is done to allow for cattle to have water on one side and human beings on the other side. This is unlike in a number of dams that are put up in the countryside, where you have the public and the livestock getting water from the same place. I believe this creates the problem of fast silting. The Ministry is also responsible for irrigation, and it would be a very good idea if they could, together with research organisations such as the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), also assist communities in designing simple drip irrigation systems, so that, as we have these dams, we can also utilise the water for small shambas . The KARI has the bucket technology, where one uses one bucket of water to irrigate more than 200 cabbages in a year. That would be adequate to feed a family, and have a surplus for other uses. The Ministry is very familiar with massive irrigation schemes. I think it would be good for them to go for simple technology that can assist our people to utilise water and grow food. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the other point that I would like to raise is with regard to geological surveys. We do not seem to have enough geologists out there. I know that they are centralised, but they do a good job. But in many cases, the failure rate in geological survey is so high that when we invest the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money to drill water, some of our communities cannot understand why water cannot be found and, yet the geologists had confirmed that there was water in the first place. Sometimes, they ask for a refund of the CDF money that had been invested there. So, that is another area that needs to be looked into by the Ministry. On the regulatory role of the Ministry, there are many other organisations under the Water Act that are responsible for managing water activities, such as the regional authorities which fall under a different Ministry and the Nairobi City Council. Sometimes we really wonder about the rivers that originate from Ngong and Kikuyu, passing through Nairobi. They cause havoc, especially, in the slums located in the Industrial Area. They also carry with them poison to the Athi River hence, posing a danger to the people of Ukambani. Sometimes, I wonder who is really in charge of the Nairobi rivers. Is it Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA), the Nairobi City Council or National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)? Who, for example, controls the big buildings that are coming up right on the river beds within Nairobi? There is room for utilisation and cleaning of water that passes through Nairobi, so that it does not poison people downstream. The water can also be utilised by the people of Nairobi. Mr. Speaker, Sir, although there is now decentralisation of roles and establishment of various bodies which are in charge of water, the Ministry needs to exert itself so that the Ewaso Nyiro River, for example, does not die. Some people are farmers upstream. They utilise so much water to grow food for export; leaving the pastoralists and wildlife downstream with very little water. There is need for the Ministry to exert itself in order to ensure that organisations that are supposed to bring discipline in the utilisation of water in Ewaso Nyiro River, for example, are working together. Towns like Nanyuki sometimes run out of water because there is so much abstraction of water by flower firms. Finally, I hope that the Ministry will look into the problem of flooding in Budalangi by August 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3385 paying attention to holding water in the catchment areas rather than dealing with the problem when it has reached Lake Victoria. I believe that water can be diverted to other areas. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}