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"speaker_name": "Mr. Muturi",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to say a few words in support of this Bill. I am glad to find that the contents of the Sessional Paper No.5, which we debated fully in this House, and which in great detail explained the rationale of moving into the direction proposed in this Bill, were considered at great length. It is important to appreciate that the three authorities which are sought to be established by the enactment of this Bill are, indeed, service institutions. Being service institutions, it is therefore, important that as proposed in the Bill, they be staffed with the highest calibre of people to run them. I say this because even without necessarily benefitting from the knowledge of the former Minister for Roads and Public Works, hon. Raila, it is an attrition that we have seen that the road sub-sector in this country suffered a great deal. I do not think it was due to lack of qualified staff. I think there has been a great disconnect between the work done by the professionals in the Ministry of Roads and Public Works and the policy-makers. I am very gratified that when you look through the Bill, you will see that in it there has been in-built the concept of performance contracting. The various authorities will be required to enter into contracts with the Minister and will give some five-year work plans which they must implement to the letter and in the event that certain shortcomings are discovered, the Minister will be at liberty to take any disciplinary measure including dismissal, as should be appropriate in each particular case. I want to commend the Minister for in-building this particular content in the Bill. I believe, as a result of putting the concept into the Bill, there will be, obvious, regular site inspections to find out whether we are June 12, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1733 getting value for money which we invest in the road sub-sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is a pity that we say that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. I have just been thinking loudly whether, if we cannot teach old dogs new tricks, we should not introduce goats and see whether they can do things differently. I am gratified that the share of what will go to the constituencies will increase from the enactment of this Bill. That is in keeping with the request that we have made to the Ministry. We have seen that for the last few years the District Roads Committees (DRCs) have been in existence, there has been noticeable improvement in the manner rural roads have been opened up. Now that each authority will be required to give a five-year work plan, we hope that Members of Parliament will be involved in drawing up those work plans, so that we do not have conflicts arising from, for instance, what those roads authorities will be submitting to the Ministry as their five-year plans. There will be need for a lot of those things to be synchronised. Going through the Bill, and looking at the design proposed, it is conceivable that what we are likely to see is an improvement of our road infrastructure in the rural areas as well as in our urban centres. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am aware that the relevant Departmental Committee had a meeting regarding this Bill only last week. I am aware that issues have been raised regarding the relationship between the proposed Urban Roads Authority and the local authorities at various levels. However, I would want us to be candid here. As we know, monies have gone to local authorities to either improve or repair or rehabilitate our roads. I am sorry to say that I cannot pinpoint, in my constituency, any single road that the local authority of the area I come from can claim to have opened or rehabilitated or repaired. Therefore, I would want the Minister to stand his ground. This should not be seen as a tug- of-war. It is just to put reality and rationalism. Let us have one body that takes care of roads in urban areas. Let not the Ministry of Local Government feel that there is anything being taken away from it. I have been going through this Bill since morning. I know that it contains proposals to include the Ministry of Local Government in the various consultations that will go to inform what works programmes the relevant authorities, be they in the rural areas or in the urban areas, will be doing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, all that needs to be appreciated is the fact that we are just putting our efforts together to ensure that what we come up with is something that will be appreciated by everybody. We have been told - and I believe it is true - that the concepts being used here may appear new, but we must appreciate that we must make progress. It is not possible for the Ministry to build all the roads in the country."
}