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{
    "id": 233890,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/233890/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 174,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. M'Mukindia",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 271,
        "legal_name": "Kirugi Joseph Laiboni M'Mukindia",
        "slug": "kirugi-mmukindia"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to also contribute to this very important Bill. From the outset, I wish to congratulate the Minister and his team for bringing this Bill to Parliament. It is long overdue. I also wish to congratulate him for recapturing his seat. That is a very rare feat in this country. I also recognise his commitment to ensuring that this country is well lit. I want to assure him that those of us who know him will try to assist him in this very important endeavour. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I welcome this Bill because it sets up, as the Minister said, a complete and new liberalisation of the energy sector, especially in the area of electricity generation, distribution and transmission and, to some extent, the petroleum products. I, therefore, support this Bill and welcome the setting up of the proposed Rural Electrification Commission (REC) and the setting aside of five per cent levy to ensure that we have a fund which can be used to ensure that we provide electricity in areas where it may not be economically feasible to supply electricity purely on economic grounds. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also welcome the fact that the area of petroleum products will be looked at more carefully. For example, drivers will need to be licensed to ferry petroleum products, which is very important because these are dangerous products. I also note that local authorities will be required to provide safe parking areas for trailers and tankers that carry flammable petroleum products. I suppose this should also include chemicals as well, not just petroleum products. In any case, once the law is in place, drivers will be required to actually park in specified areas. Local authorities will be required by law to set aside those areas. There is also the issue of environmental health and safety, which will be looked into more specifically. I welcome the setting up of the ERC. In the area of electricity distribution it is now clear that the KPLC will not just set up power lines on people's land. They will require to be allowed by the owners of the land to get way leave. At the moment, most wananchi do not know that is a requirement. This will be very clear. If necessary, compensation will be paid by whoever wants to put up a power line through somebody's land. Conditions will be negotiated between the owner of the land and the company that wants to put up that power line. This again gives some rights to wananchi in so far as the usage of their land is concerned. What I do not know is whether this is likely to be retroactive because this issue was never raised when most of the power lines were being put up."
}