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{
"id": 212666,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/212666/?format=api",
"text_counter": 201,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Sungu",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 324,
"legal_name": "Gor Eric Sungu",
"slug": "gor-sungu"
},
"content": ".\" The tendency in Nyanza Province, particularly, is that when any repair work is being done, instead of using tarmac to repair tarmac, they use murram. You know what happens when that is done. One day when it rains, the road is washed away. When there is sunshine, it turns to dust. It amounts to waste of public funds. I just want to ask the professionals in that industry that we need your help, gentlemen. We need their help. I am not a trained engineer but I can argue at any level. At the constituency level, when they allocate funds for these roads, you can never argue with an engineer when he talks about volumes in calculations. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there was one time when a particular contractor was allocated a road construction project. A bulldozer was being paid for on an hourly basis. The engineer did not know that I had appointed somebody to check on how many hours this bulldozer was working. This bulldozer was old and it broke down many times. It so happened that the contractor made a claim of Kshs1.2 million, yet, my records showed that they were entitled to Kshs600,000. Recently, with regard to Chiga Road, the Ministry officials at the district level, approved a payment of Kshs400,000, for about 150 loads of murram, yet, my spy there told me that they had only used 15 lorry loads of murram. The money was eventually paid. We need the assistance of the Minister now, because we shall not be with him permanently. But God forbid; without you this country will never move. Without you being serious, we will never get anywhere. We will spent countless amounts of shillings, but we will never get anywhere. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to support the move to reconstruct the white elephant projects, for example, the Nyanza Provincial Headquarters. This project has gone on for a long time. I know that, that Ministry has spent a lot of money. But just imagine that the Ministry of Roads and 2710 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 24, 2007 Public Works offices are located on one other side of the town while those of the Ministry of Agriculture is on the other side. Likewise the Provincial police headquarters are on one side while the offices of the Statistics Department are on the other side of the town. They are all scattered all over town and they are paying rent. Can you imagine how much money we would save by having these offices situated at one place? It is logical that we spend as much money as possible and then spare no effort to make sure that this is done. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, my concern is with this so-called partnership with donor funding. I know that, as a country, we may not have enough money to fund all the road projects. But I am concerned that--- For example, certainly, I drive to Kisumu, almost, every weekend. I do not go by air. The reconstruction of the road from Naivasha to Nakuru is funded by the European Economic Union. However, the reconstruction of this road has taken too long. Do we not have capacity to supervise and implement? If the people who are funding this project have given us this money, why does it take so long to complete it? My dear father - because he is the father of my friend who is also my age mate - would know and agree with me, that the construction of the Mau Summit-Kericho-Kisumu Road is long overdue. But the worst part of it is that when these contracts are awarded - and the engineer who is in charge of construction told us that these things have been done - they ignore the fact that vehicles still have to pass through these roads. As a result, the potholes which were there, now become areas where you can, actually, bury someone in a coffin. In a small car, you would go down slowly and then climb up on the other side; on a road which is supposed to be an international carriage way. What happened to the logic of doing temporary repairs before the main contractors move in? I noted that there were some repairs which had been done on some of those areas before, but the work was shoddy. Come the rains, the roads revert back to their original state before the repairs. This is where we lose money as a nation. I must appeal to the Minister and technical people to, at least, fill in that hole. If we are going to spend even Kshs100 million on a project, let it serve the purpose for what it is meant. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, even the North Road which Mzee was talking about has taken too long to construct. It is difficult to understand why this is the case. I understand that the Timboroa- Webuye and Nakuru-Mau Summit roads are also being constructed. In fact, I understand that the by-pass is being constructed, so that motorists can go on with their activities. The one thing that really amuses me is this: Why do we have to wait for too long before carrying out some of these road repairs? Recently, when floods were experienced in Kisumu, we were marooned when the Nyamasaria Bridge broke down. The Awach Bridge on the Kisii Road was also destroyed. Likewise, the Miwani Road was also destroyed by the heavy rains. To go to Kisumu, one had to go via Busia. We were marooned like an island. This should never arise. I always recommend the use of local people, because I know that Kenya has got the human resources. I know that we have got qualified people. A Mzungu does not know the quantity of water that would pass under the Nyamasaria, Awach or Kuja rivers, because he was not born there. He will have to look at the statistics. But, sometimes, the Meterological Department does not have the equipment in that place. But the local people know the quantity of water that passes under those bridges. So, instead of using pipes, which are more expensive, to construct the bridges, we should construct a bridge at a place like Ahero. The water would pass and, as a result, there will be no flooding. Our people suffer constantly because of these kind of things. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me just mention something about the Nyanza Roads 2000 Project. We have waited for this project for a long time. We have even had people trained. This is going to be a useful project, because it can provide labour intensive method of constructing roads. Therefore, it is going to provide employment to our people. They will deal with their own roads July 24, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2711 which they can own. But this project is going on very slowly. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I support the Minister when it comes to reforms in the roads sectors. I would like to say that the Kenya Roads Board (KRB) has done well. This is the way that we should go. But when money is allocated for particular projects during a financial year, why do we have to wait until the financial year is half-way through before awarding the contracts. By the time the contract is awarded, it will be too late for the contractor to finish the projects. As a result, some of the money allocated for that particular project is returned to the Treasury. I have a case in point. The construction of the Awach Bridge was allocated funds under the KRB. I went there night and day to make sure that the project was completed, but we could not finish it by 30th June. That is a practical case, because the contract was awarded too late. I want to appeal to the Minister that, if money has been allocated for a particular project, the contract should be awarded early enough, so that the contractors can do their job earlier enough, so that they do not have to return money to the Treasury. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister admitted that the deterioration of our roads system is as a result of under-investment. That is true and I support him. I would like to say that this Parliament will support him, so that he can get more funds. This is because without roads we can never get anywhere. Also, without roads the economic lifeline of this country will be at stake. For example, Kenya was at the forefront of bringing peace to Sudan. But right now, Ugandans are taking advantage because Kenyans cannot reach there easily. This is because the road to Sudan from my friend's constituency, Kacheliba, is not existent. What kind of people are we if we cannot priorities our--- If we constructed the road to Ethiopia, we will need to construct another port to employ our people, so that the economic life of this country can be--- There is no way we are ever going to move forward if we do not prioritize the right projects at the right time. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}