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{
"id": 207634,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/207634/?format=api",
"text_counter": 191,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muchiri",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Local Government",
"speaker": {
"id": 225,
"legal_name": "Muchiri Geoffrey Gachara",
"slug": "geoffrey-gachara"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. 3396 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 22, 2007 Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to contribute to this very important Vote. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, water is life, as it has been said quite a number of times. I think this Ministry, whatever the amount of money they are asking for--- I do not have the exact figure. I think it is necessary that we grant the same. In future, I think we should be able to add some more funds to this Ministry, so that it can give us piped water. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, first of all, I want the Minister to do a little bit of study. Since we did the water reforms, we need to know whether we are worse off or where we are! Where are we since we did the water reforms? I have my own worries and fears that, unless the water boards are going to be run properly--- It appears like we have created many ministries of water in the process. So, I just want to ask the Minister to find out exactly where we are, and ensure that the water boards are not going to have many members of staff to the detriment of service delivery of water. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since the advent of water boards, water charges to Kenyans have increased. In the rural areas, we used to pay Kshs100. We are now struggling with Kshs200 per household. To that extent, water is becoming a bit expensive to the rural folk. I do not know what is happening in other places but, as far as my constituency is concerned, in areas where we used to have piped water--- I can name some of those projects. There was the Ndaragwa Water Project and they were paying Kshs100. Now, they are being told to pay Kshs200. We have other water projects like Lichago- Karogaini which, again, are being asked to pay Kshs200. We have Kilimo Water Project, where they were paying Kshs100 but now, they are paying Kshs200. So, to that extent, I want to say that those charges should not continue to go up. If anything, let them remain at Kshs100 so that, in future, as a Government, we can find ways and means of even providing water for free to some of those poor rural folks. I do not mind the people in towns paying for their water. But the people in the rural areas are finding it very difficult to pay for the water. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you might find in a certain village that only a few people are able to turn on their water taps. I do not know why this is the case. Maybe, my people are not properly endowed. We do not have tea. We do not have coffee. Maybe, that is the problem. But, I think that I am delivering the point. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, moving away from that, I want the Ministry to encourage piped water that can flow through gravity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with regard to the issue of maintenance, generators, water pipes and so on, I think they are becoming very expensive. I say this because, in my constituency, for example, we draw water from the fringes of River Olbolosat, which is down there. We pump the water uphill from the fringes of River Olbolosat and then distribute it by gravity to the rest of the area. That in itself is very expensive. So, I would wish that we be facilitated to draw water from the Kirima Water Project in my constituency. If it can be given more funds, it can serve nearly the whole of my constituency through gravity. The water is from the Aberdares. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I would like to see the Ministry take a bit of initiative to also assist in protecting catchment areas. I know that is being done by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources because that is part of their mandate. However, this Ministry should be able to do some work in that direction. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, generally, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has done well. We can see quite a number of works here and there. Indeed, that is a sign that the Kibaki Government has really revolutionised the water sector in this country. However, there are still other areas that we really need to look at. We should encourage the question of tapping water from the rooftops. If I asked the Minister and the Ministry at large to tell me how many Kenyans are August 22, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3397 benefiting from piped water in this country, I am sure they will tell me they are not more than 10 per cent. So, where do the other Kenyans get their water? They get their water either through boreholes which have been dug manually, or tapping it from the roof, or drawing it from the river. I think we are still far from achieving our goal of supplying piped water to our people. We need to give this Ministry more money so that we can get piped water to all corners of this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, even in the Ministry of Local Government, when people draw plans for their houses, we encourage them to show that they are able to collect water from the rooftops so that such water can be used in the water closets and other places. The water from the pipes can be used in the kitchen, for livestock and other uses. I would like to encourage the Minister and his team to continue doing the good work they are doing. At the same time, we would like to encourage Kenyans to have small dams in their own farms. Unless we do that, we shall not be able to use the water to irrigate our farms. The few technical staff in the field should encourage farmers to have small dams. Other speakers have talked about man-made lakes. I want to be more practical and say that we want each household to have a small dam in order to preserve water, particularly the run-off. That way, there will always be some water, somehow, for livestock and for irrigating the kitchen gardens. So, it is necessary. If we agree that, perhaps, only 10 per cent of our population gets clean piped water, then we must now go to where the people are and try to improve on what they are already using. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of safety or hygienic conditions of the water that our people take is something that we must address. Whether somebody gets water from a man- made borehole--- Sometimes our people get water from dams. A good example is where I come from. The issue of advising people how that water is going to be safe is very important. We can tell Kenyans that they must drink water which is boiled. That is very important. Even before we are able to treat the water, we should drink water which has been boiled so that we do not contract water borne diseases. However, the Ministry can lend a hand in that direction so that our people do not suffer from any water borne diseases. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is also in charge of provision of sewerage plants. We have a lot of our towns that require these services. In the Ministry of Local Government, we know that since the advent of the water reforms, that particular sector is pulling between the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Ministry of Local Government. At the end of the day, we do not know who is doing what. Because of that confusion, I think we should sit down, that is, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation and the Ministry of Local Government so that we agree. With regard to the water companies that have been formed, who is really in charge? Fair enough, local authorities are shareholders and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation is also represented. I think there is some overlap. It was not envisaged in the Water Management Act of 2000. The two Ministries should sit down together and see how they can actually sort out that overlap. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support this Vote. I would also like to wish the Minister and his team all the best."
}