HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 207631,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/207631/?format=api",
"text_counter": 188,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Sambu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 137,
"legal_name": "Alfred B. Wekesa Sambu",
"slug": "alfred-sambu"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. I want to start supporting this Vote by commending the Minister. As my colleague from Lamu North said, the Minister may be number one in terms of performance, but the people of Kapsabet are number last. The District Water Engineer in Kapsabet must be disciplined. This is what makes people cry even more for devolution of power. If you want, call it majimboism . I think that is where Kenya will finally head to, because some junior officers out there behave as if they govern the land. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have a case in point in Kapsabet, where we allocate funds to projects we have identified. I have the example of Ndalat Gaa Secondary School, to which the CDF has allocated Kshs1 million. The money is in the school's account. We have Kaiboi, near Kaiboi Technical School, to which we have allocated another Kshs1 million, which has been lying in the school's account for nearly a year. Whenever we go to the District Water Engineer for the designs, they tell us: \"Pay for fuel.\" We pay for the fuel. They continue: \"Pay for night out allowance for the officers.\" It does not take a four-wheel drive vehicle more than two hours to reach those two places. So, if they leave Kapsabet in the morning, they can be there by 10.00 a.m. and get back to Kapsabet by 5.00 p.m. latest, but they demand night out allowance. So, I demand that the Minister takes action. Unfortunately, we also have a system where no District Development Committee (DDC) meetings are called. Since this Ministry does not have institutions like the District Education Boards (DEBs), because all the powers have been given to the departmental heads, we cannot meet with these officers. When we call on them, they avoid seeing us. I even went to Kapsabet at one time. He was in but he said that he was not in. So, I decided not to bother. So, we want to see improvement of service delivery by officers in the field, unless they are not being paid using taxpayers' money contained in the Vote we are passing today. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, before I speak further about my district, I want to speak about Lake Victoria and its surrounding catchment areas. We are saying that the water level in Lake Victoria is falling. In my view, it is the silting and pollution in Lake Victoria which are causing the volume of its water to decrease. That is because we have allowed the surrounding catchment areas to be de-forested by two companies, namely, Pan African Paper Mills Limited and Rai Ply Company. I do not care! We will, one day, kick out the Pan African Paper Mills Limited. I used to say this when I was on the Government side, and I will continue doing so even from the Opposition side, because that land belongs to us, and not to anybody from India. Both companies are owned by Indians. I am not being a racist, but if you go to Pan African Paper Mills today, you will find that most of the money collected is remitted to India, yet they are cutting down all the forests. One may disagree but I am also a scientist. Some people say that exotic species like Cypress and Pine do not help to conserve the environment, which is not true. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, any foliage, provided that it provides forest cover, will conserve the water. Now, if you go down there, you will find that those two companies have cut down all the trees, leaving only the stumps standing. Rain water flows freely, causing a lot of soil erosion. So, all that water and the silt that it carries with it ends up in Lake Victoria. But now, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you go down there and all the water--- They have cut all the trees. They have just left the stumps. All the water just runs off. There is a lot of soil erosion. As hon. Obwocha has August 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3395 asked, where are all the studies that have been carried out to control the floods in the Budalangi area? On those floods, if we could build dams in rivers Nzoia, Kipkaren and Yala, we will be able to generate electricity. We will also be able to conserve water. We will be able to protect the people of lower Western Province and Nyanza from continuous flooding. We had, at one time, managed to control the water hyacinth. But we are now letting it to overcome us. It is not a serious issue. You know that scientists have conducted a research and brought in beetles which eat the hyacinth. I do not know what has happened. Maybe, the environment or the content of the water hyacinth has changed and it is no longer suitable for those insects which feed on it. But something must be done. You saw it even on television last week when people were stranded in that lake. They were caught up in the water hyacinth. Something has to be done. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, going back now to my own district, I want to say that this Government and, maybe, the previous one as well--- In my constituency,there is only one Government water project. During the Kenyatta, Moi and this Government era, there has only been one water project called Lelmokwa near Eldoret Airport. That is the only one. I think two or three years ago, it cost Kshs6 million. There is no other project. I have in my area--- I thank God because we have enough rains. We have a good environment. My people try to conserve the environment as much as they can. So, we have many streams flowing from the hills with a lot of water. Even what we have now is gravity water. But there are those colonial days projects--- Like what they used to call the Sywnerton Plant projects. We have Kabiemit Water Project and Lolringet Water Project. Those days, they would use the steel water pipes. But those are now rusted because it was so many years ago. It was over 40 years ago. If we try to do them with CDF, the cost is so huge. So, I am saying: \"Please, put some money also in those high rainfall areas.\" It is the people of those areas that conserve the environment, so that water could be generated. It goes into the lakes. So, let them not only see the water. Let them also use it. As an hon. Member who spoke before said, we should not be dictated to too much. In any case, we should show those who use the waters of the Nile River that they also contribute towards the conservation of the environment where the water comes from. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are boreholes which were dug during the colonial days. I have one in Kapng'ombe area, which was done by a colonial settler who was there. But when he left, the machinery sank into the borehole. The local people cannot extract the machines from the borehole."
}