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"id": 210089,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Weya",
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"legal_name": "Sammy Arthur Weya",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, like other hon. Members have said, the issue of renewable energy is critical. This country really needs to look into the importance of using the renewable energy that we have. I would like to give examples of wind and solar. It is understood that in the northern part of this country, there are strong winds. Wind speeds have been calculated that are enough to have the big turbines, like seen in Germany and other countries. We can also get carbon credit because you get it by using some of these renewable energies. I think the Ministry should really look into how we can use some of these renewable energies, so that we can earn credits which other countries are earning. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we come to the issue of biodiesel, many countries are investing in it. Our country should look into how we are going to create investment in biodiesel by planting crops. There is a tree called Jasper which is grown in many parts of Africa. It is supposed to produce biodiesel. I think it is important that we look into how we can use these renewable energy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, rice and wheat husks are left unused because the farmers do not know that they can be used for making charcoal. I think it should be upon the Ministry of Energy to advise the local societies and look for investments and make charcoal from rice and wheat husks. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have expanded electrification to the rural areas. We need to find ways of encouraging even small districts and councils to invest in what we call small plants. Where we have rivers, they can establish small hydro-electric power stations. I think the Government should co-operate with the municipal councils which can also invest in this infrastructure, as it happens in many parts of the world. This will ensure that the Ministry stops getting involved in some of these investments where the locals can also invest and create their own grids within their own areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, recently, our District Development Committee (DDC) approved a rural electrification project in my constituency. Whereas it is now being implemented on the ground, we do not know what happened between the DDC, the Ministry and Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC). This is because what they are now implementing on the ground is something different. I was surprise when I was called by my people and told me that the project that is being implemented on the ground is not the one that was approved by the DDC. So, I think August 8, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3083 there is some interference in the regional offices, between what comes out from the Ministry and what goes to those offices, because some individuals there have an interest. I have heard many hon. Members also complain that, that is happening to them in their constituencies. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry also needs to find ways of utilising other alternative sources of energy. I understand that there are huge coal deposits within Kambaland and other parts of Eastern Province. But the Ministry is not, really, coming out clear on how much coal there is. They are not also moving out to advertise for an investor to come and invest in coal exploration. Year in, year out, there is some research being done on coal exploration. The reports of this research should be made public. The Ministry can even have a website saying: \"We have discovered coal in this area. Anybody who is interested in investing in it, these are the facts. We have discovered that we can put mineral hydros in these rivers. Anybody willing to invest can do so.\" But all these records are gathering dust in the Ministry of Energy. The Ministry should, really, make some of those documents public so that any investor, who wants to come in, can access them, and they can be utilised to invest. There is no point in the Government spending huge sums of money in doing research whose reports, at the end of the day, are kept on the shelves to gather dust. I think this is something that is critical. The Minister should take it upon himself to make sure that these documents do not gather dust on the shelves, and that the information that is gathered is utilised to make the Ministry, really, grow in a certain direction. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think this Government has really done very well in terms ensuring fairness in supplying electricity to each and every constituency. I have been able to drive all the way to my constituency by road, even through Narok. You will find that there is construction work that is going on. But I get worried when I see poles that have been erected, and there is no activity going for about six months. I really do not know what kind of system some of the contractors have put on the ground. This is because, in my understanding, when a contractor is given a job, he has something called a performance bond. If he is not performing, that performance bond should be withdrawn, unless, the KPLC is giving contractors jobs without them having performance bonds. Many times in this House, we hear hon. Members complain about contractors who have been on site for two years and, yet, there is no activity going on there. So, we really need to make sure that anybody who is given a contract by the Ministry, performs in accordance with the performance bond. If that is not happening, the Minister should stop being lenient and withdraw that performance bond, so that other contractors do not complain later and ask: \"If the performance bond of the other contractor was not withdrawn, why is mine being withdrawn?\" This will make the contractors take their work seriously. So, I think it is critical that the Ministry makes sure that these contractors perform to the best of their capability. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you visit the DDCs, you will find that Members of Parliament are doing certain things without having the same vision, yet, we should be aiming at achieving the Vision 2030. The Vision 2030 only belongs to the Government. In most countries, when a government has a vision, it involves everybody, including the Members of Parliament, the civil society, trade unionists and businessmen, so that people work together in one direction. But in our country, you will find the politicians, Government, trade unionists and researchers going in different directions, because we are not working in cahoots. We should be working to achieve a goal that all of us are supposed to achieve. For example, you will find that, in one constituency, the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) money is being used for rural electrification. You will find the same money being used for Information Communication Technology (ICT) in another constituency, because the area Member of Parliament believes that ICT is the only way forward. In another constituency, you will find health centres being put up. So, we need to work together and realise that, if we put so much investment in a certain way, we will achieve the same goal. For example, there is no point of a power line going through 3084 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES August 8, 2007 so many kilometres of land, whereas solar energy can be used at that destination. We need to really target points where population concentration is, so that we move power lines to where there is concentration of consumption. There are many power lines which were put up in my place before I became a Member of Parliament, but they are not being utilised. People are still complaining that they do not have electricity. We, as hon. Members of Parliament, have to explain to them that they have to apply to be supplied with electricity in their houses, because most of our people are ignorant. So, I think the KPLC needs to take an initiative to go out and market itself in the rural areas. They should tell people: \"This is how much money you need to pay. This is how you get power. Anybody who is 600 metres away from a transformer, this is what is required.\" This is because when we go for barazas, as Members of Parliament, we are told: \"We see power here but we cannot use it.\" That is the kind of response that we get from our people in the rural areas. It now becomes the responsibility of the Member of Parliament to advertise, on behalf of the KPLC, how to get the power. The KPLC should be doing this automatically when it goes out to those areas. The KPLC should also explain to the local people about the electrification projects. This is because when somebody sees a contractor on his farm, he does not know that it is beneficial to him and his property. He does not know that if power lines pass there, the value of his property goes up. They keep on asking about these wayleaves and many other things. They should come up with a clear policy and say: \"We are taking power to this place. Stop asking about these wayleaves. This will ensure that there is no perception in the rural areas that when power lines pass through someone's place, he or she is going to be paid by the KPLC. Let them know that this is going to benefit them. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}