HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 218427,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/218427/?format=api",
"text_counter": 162,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Tarus",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister, Office of the President",
"speaker": {
"id": 315,
"legal_name": "Stephen Kipkiyeny Tarus",
"slug": "stephen-tarus"
},
"content": " Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this chance to contribute to this Bill. At the outset, I want to thank the Minister for Roads and Public Works for this very, very important Bill. If there is anything that the Government has done during its term in office in terms of innovation, I want to think that this is the best innovation so far. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking at the level of investments, for the last 40 years, that we have invested as a Government in this sector, and also looking at the benefits or the outcome from that investment, we can say that if we did an analysis, we would realize that out of the funds that have been allocated, we have lost so much. The reason why we have lost so much is basically because we never thought of the best ways to organise and manage the development of infrastructure in Kenya. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, infrastructure plays a critical role in our national economy. We are talking about the economy growing at around 6.1 per cent, but sometimes I ask myself, if we had a properly developed road network, a functioning Government the way we have now, less corruption within the country and an efficient workforce, what would be the level of growth of our economy? Possibly, we would be talking about over 10 per cent growth. Therefore, lack of infrastructure and lack of proper management of the resources that we have for the development of infrastructure is costing us possibly, 3, 4 or even 10 per cent of what we would be obtaining as a country for development. Every time we lose resources either through poor planning or bureaucratic processes, we squander the opportunity of the generations that have not been born. We also squander the opportunity of those who have the ability to provide services and, in fact, join the sector in terms of employment. We cannot afford to do so because we are losing through our weaknesses. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad that the authorities that have been proposed have been given specific responsibilities. There are those that shall be in charge of highways, urban roads, and rural infrastructure. Looking at the highway infrastructure, you will find that every time that you construct a road, you know that this road will last this number of years. You also know the amount of traffic that will ply that road. You will also know, through the Roads Maintenance Levy Fund, how much you will get from that road. However, you will realise that these roads, it is like once they have been constructed, you expect them to last for eternity. We do not plan, for example, that on the tenth year, that is, before the 15th year which you had intended the road to last, you will need to begin again to plan for when to reconstruct the road. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have read in this Bill that the proposed functions of these authorities will be to manage, develop, rehabilitate and maintain the roads. I hope that when we talk about management, we are talking about management in the real sense and not administration. This is because we have a tendency that when we talk of management, the processes that you will see are merely administrative. We would like to see efficiency in monitoring the use and utilisation of these roads. We June 13, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1797 have invested a lot of billions of Kenya shillings and a good example is the Mombasa-Nairobi- Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba Road. This road earns Kenya a lot of money in terms of Fuel Levy, boosting the economy and linking Kenya to other countries. However, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, can you look at how discriminative construction has been in the past? You do a road all the way from Mombasa to Nairobi and then stop at Naivasha for another five years. You start again after another five years. By the time you are finishing the remaining part of the road, you will need to go back and begin to do the road. I hope that with the establishment of the Highway Authority, it will help us to make sure that when we plan, we do so once. I am glad of the work that is going on now. I hope that as we do this, we shall take cognisance of the fact that we exhausted--- I looked at the Bill and it talks of every authority having an inventory of roads that it is supposed to be in charge of. I think that is very important because when you rehabilitate the roads, you know which roads are remaining. This is because we have realised that some roads have actually been forgotten and they only come to repair them after people have suffered for a very long time. I am glad that the Bill is proposing an authority specifically for highways in our country. I hope that the funds that will be obtained through the Fuel Levy will be ploughed back for maintenance and development of the roads. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am glad also that the Bill has proposed that every authority will be working together with the Kenya Police in terms of ensuring that there is compliance to the regulations that have been developed. This is good, and with the emergence of these authorities, I hope that there is going to be a formula to make sure that what the police and the authorities do are in tandem so that we reduce risks and we make sure that we do not just provide opportunities for some people to do their own things. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, talking about development, there are roads which give high returns. I understand that any road is valuable, particularly when you talk about the marginal areas. I know that it is our responsibility, as a country, to ensure that we provide roads there. However, where you also get a lot of returns, it is important that you ensure that those roads are in proper condition at all times. I would like to support somebody who talked about remuneration for the staff who will work in these authorities. As a matter of fact, the engineers who serve in this particular sector have not received their due reward or what they deserve. That is why in most cases, the invisible hand is very effective. People exchange other valuables which have sometimes been called corruption without taking cognisance of the importance of what needs to be done to ensure that the road worth service provision is done properly. It is important to ensure that we have proper remuneration for the personnel that work for these authorities. I have experience having been elected a Member of Parliament and having worked with them. I see some of the challenges that we face with regard to personnel in this sector, particularly those at the district levels. I hope that, without prejudice, when we have better remuneration that culture will disappear. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wanted to recognise the fact that the Bill also stipulates that it is mandatory for every authority to ensure that a five-year investment plan is developed. In that five-year investment plan, every programme that will follow every year will make sure that it sticks to the investment plan. That is good for programming, planning and forecasting. However, I hope that when we do this investment plan we capture--- I have in mind the fact that we have an inventory of all the roads. We need to make sure that, that investment plan is representative of the whole country so that we have equitable and fair investment plans for all regions. That way, this business of tilted or biased construction of roads, which I think has occupied our minds for quite some time, can be a thing of the past. I also would want to thank the Ministry for providing, in this Bill, performance agreements 1798 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 13, 2007 between the Ministry and the respective authorities on the achievements expected within a particular year. This will ensure that people, in the performance of their duties, make sure that they have adhered to the programme, so that the people can enjoy the services they deserve. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will not finalise before I say a number of things. One is that every time we are talking about road development, there are roads that have been forgotten. There is the road from Chavakali to Kapsabet and Eldoret. This is a forgotten road. I am sure it falls under the highways category. I hope this organisation comes into effect very fast, so that some of these roads can be put into plan for development. The other issue is that if you go to Kapsabet Town, you will realise that it is the only town that has three kilometres of tarmac road. I like the idea of the urban authority, because sometime back, Kapsabet had been planned for tarmacking of the roads within it, and it is not a lot of kilometres; only 17 kilometres. But one of the leading lights in ODM reduced them to three kilometres when he was a Minister. I am seeing him going back to ask for votes in my constituency without shame. I hope he remembers the injustice that he did to us. Now, with the urban authority, this town will receive resources for the tarmacking of the road, so that it can grow. It is an agricultural town; it has the potential, but it has not grown because there are no services like roads and other infrastructure. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have the local authorities that receive funds through the Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF). It has been a disgrace, because prioritisation by the local authorities does not take cognisance of the importance of roads. So, with this innovation of urban authorities, I hope the towns will receive due support for development of infrastructure. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}