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"speaker_name": "Mr. Mwiraria",
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"content": "Yes, indeed, that was the Member for Kacheliba; I beg your pardon. I was saying that the Member for Kacheliba said that one of the water-borne diseases, namely cholera, continues to kill people there, and the Government should take immediate action to stop these deaths and the spread of the disease. One of the problems that Kenya, like many other developing countries, is going to face, because of the climate change which we are experiencing, is lack of water. Most of our rivers, particularly those from mountains like Mt. Kenya, are already beginning to dry up. There is, therefore, need for us, as a country to go back to the forests, replant trees and ensure that catchment areas are well protected. One of the desires of the developed world, when it comes to developing countries, is that we introduce privatisation of water distribution in our countries. Personally, I am totally opposed to privatisation of water, particularly when we begin giving that privatisation to individuals from outside the country. If we form companies of our own here, whose interest is to ensure that water is fairly distributed and shared and properly controlled, I will have no objection to its privatisation. But I would have an objection to bringing in multinationals to come and control such an important item as water. The other point I want to make is that during the environmental meeting which took place here in Nairobi, developed countries confirmed and agreed to the establishment of what we call \"the carbon sink\", where countries such as Kenya can grow trees, which would be accepted and paid for because they help to absorb carbon dioxide. Although the payments which come out of this carbon sink are not really good, I think Kenya should take advantage of it. It is in our interests to grow trees everywhere, including in the arid and semi-arid areas, so that we can avoid turning this country into a desert in the very near future. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me conclude by saying that the ACP-EU joint meetings are useful, but the direction in which the EU is moving where they want to stop most of the assistance they have been giving to ACP countries is not a good move. What our country should be demanding from the EU are better terms of trade, particularly trade which is in our favour. The other day, I was horrified to hear the British say that Kenyan flowers produce a lot of carbon, because they are carried by aeroplanes to their country and, therefore, they should stop buying them and start growing their own flowers. I could not understand the logic. I believe our Government should, in fact, begin talking to the traders in Europe to avoid such an eventuality, where we may lose our market on the basis that, because our goods are transported by air they produce a lot of carbon, and are, therefore, not acceptable in Europe, whereas Europeans themselves transport their manufactured goods by air, and we, the people who are not producing as April 11, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 569 much carbon dioxide, are not opposed to air transport. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}