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{
"id": 212613,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/212613/?format=api",
"text_counter": 148,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Nyachae",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Roads and Public Works",
"speaker": {
"id": 342,
"legal_name": "Simeon Nyachae",
"slug": "simeon-nyachae"
},
"content": " Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir. Our Mission is, therefore, to facilitate the provision and maintenance of quality infrastructure, mainly in building roads and other public works so as to promote and sustain socio-economic development. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the core functions and responsibilities of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works include the following:- (1) Road development standardisation and maintenance policy. (2) Roads policy, material testing and advice on usage. (3) Public works planning and policy development. (4) Development and maintenance of public buildings. (5) Maintenance of inventory of Government property. (6) Provision of mechanical and electrical services. (7) Routine maintenance of security airstrips. (8) Registration of contractors and material suppliers. (9) The Kenya Roads Board (KRB). Mr. Speaker, Sir, my Ministry undertakes the above functions under the following expenditure sub-votes of Vote 13:- (i) General Administration and Planning (ii) Building and Public Works (iii) Roads; and, (iv) Other Services. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having implemented a largely successful Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation Policy since 2003, the Government has now embarked on Vision 2030 with an aim of making Kenya a competitive and prosperous nation with a high quality of life in the next 25 years. The role of the infrastructure sector and, in particular, the roads subsector, in the achievement of this Vision cannot be over-emphasized. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the state of infrastructure in the country still remains of great concern to all Kenyans and, in particular, hon. Members of this august House. Over the last two decades, the general condition of rural and urban roads in Kenya has progressively been deteriorating due to under-investment and inappropriate institutional framework. The poor condition of our roads is affecting quick enhancement of economic growth in the country all round. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the challenges in the roads subsector cannot be addressed without sufficient funding, improved construction capacity and supervision. The allocated increased funding for road projects, if backed up by corresponding construction capacity, will go a long way in addressing the challenges in the roads subsector. 2688 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 24, 2007 Mr. Speaker, Sir, further to the foregoing, the Government recognizes that the existing institutional framework within the roads subsector has not been able to address the challenges in the subsector. In this regard, the Government has set in motion a number of reforms aimed at addressing the shortcomings as follows:- Establishment of three road authorities, hopefully before December, 2007, after this House passed the necessary legislation on 4th July, 2007. The institutions to be established will be: i. The Kenya National Highways Authority (KNHA) which will be responsible for Class \"A\", \"B\" and \"C\" roads. ii. The Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA), which will be responsible for Class \"D\", \"E\" and other roads. iii. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA), which will be responsible for urban roads. Mr. Speaker, Sir, realignment of the functions of the various existing organizations, such as the Kenya Roads Board and the conversion of three service departments of the Ministry, namely: Mechanical and Transport, Materials and the Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology into semi-autonomous Government agencies, will enhance the involvement of private sector in road financing and maintenance activities, especially through the \"Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT)\" Schemes as well as capacity building for local contractors. We will also increase the construction and consultancy capacity in the roads subsector through incentives and training. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we will continue using labour-based methods under the Roads 2000 Programme to generate employment opportunities among our people. We will also enhance the supervision of road projects to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Mr. Speaker, Sir, having outlined the above reforms which we intend to continue with in this financial year, allow me now to present my Ministry's budgetary proposals for the 2007/2008 Financial Year to this august House. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I will start with the Recurrent Vote (R13). Under the Recurrent Vote, my Ministry has a gross provision of Kshs20,264,212,165. Out of this amount, Kshs18,335,000,000 is in the form of Appropriations-in-Aid (A-in-A) under the Fuel Levy Fund (FLF) while Kshs86,621,035 is in ordinary local A-in-A to be collected by the Ministry's departments. The remaining balance of Kshs1,842,591,130 is the net expenditure to be sourced from the Exchequer Account. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I wish to point out that the provisions for operations and maintenance of office activities falls short of the Ministry's requirements. The amount is not sufficient to cover financial requirements of the new districts, the proposed new roads authorities and enhancement of the Ministry's operational and maintenance expenditure Items. I intend to apply the Recurrent provision to finance major activities as follows. First, Kshs1,499,797,896 will be used to meet the expenses of staff salaries, allowances and other related activities while Kshs429,414,269 will be used for the operations and maintenance and Kshs18,335,000,000 from the Fuel Levy Fund will be used for road maintenance activities. As hon. Members may have noted from the Printed Estimates, there is an increase in the collection of the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF) from Kshs15 billion to Kshs18 billion this financial year. This amount will be used for maintenance of roads. The funds will be disbursed to the various roads agencies by the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) as per the RMLF Act. Due to the increase in fuel levy collection, each constituency will receive an annual allocation of Kshs12 million instead of Kshs11 million received in the previous financial year. In addition, the Nairobi City Council (NCC) will receive additional funding of Kshs300 million, out of which Kshs200 million will be spent on rehabilitation works on Lusaka and Enterprise roads. The balance of Kshs100 million will be utilised on the improvement of selected roads within the Industrial Area. Mr. Speaker, Sir, during the current financial year, my Ministry will put more emphasis on July 24, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2689 routine maintenance to prevent investment in roads from wasting away. In this regard, my Ministry will set aside a substantial amount of money under the RMLF, specifically for periodic maintenance. This will be used for extensive repairs of some major roads within the country. Some of the roads earmarked for periodic maintenance this financial year are--- I am not giving a complete list, but I would like to give an indication of the regional maintenance programme are:-"
}