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"content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for according me the opportunity to make my contribution to this very important Vote. At the very outset, let me take this opportunity to congratulate the very able Minister for the way he moved his Vote. When NARC took over power in 2002, one of the greatest expectations of Kenyans was that the road network and infrastructure in general in this country was going to improve tremendously. During the campaigns, we made so many promises to Kenyans and we raised their expectations. We said: \" Yote yawezekana! \" When we took over the Government, this was not to be. This Government has failed Kenyans totally in terms of the road network and infrastructure. Kenyans are very disappointed with this Government and if the Government does not know that, it should wait until December, 2007, when we go for the elections and it will face the full wrath of Kenyans. The Government should know that it has let us down badly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, road network and infrastructure are very important for any country. It is high time that the Government invested heavily in our roads, to ensure that we have good roads. It is high time that we allocated enough resources to the Ministry of Roads and Public Works to enable it to undertake the works that it intends to undertake in this financial year. We cannot be saying that we want to revive our economy when we have a very poor road network. Any development revolves around the road network and infrastructure. For our tourism sector to flourish, we will definitely need to have good roads. For us to benefit fully from our agricultural activities, we will need to have good roads for the farmers to take their farm inputs to the farm and their produce to the market. Therefore, the issue of a good road network can never be over-emphasised. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one issue that always comes up when we are discussing the Vote of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works is the issue of fair distribution of resources to all corners of this country. When the NARC Government took over power, it was expected that the idea of allocating resources to politically-correct constituencies or areas was going to be a thing of the past. It is unfortunate to note that this Government has perfected that art. It is worse than it has ever been before. It is very clear in the Printed Estimates that some areas have been heavily favoured in the distribution of these resources. That is why we are saying that we are going to be hesitant in passing this Vote until the resources are re-distributed. I want to urge my colleagues that we must all remain here, sit firm and ensure that this Vote does not go through until the Minister re-distributes the resources. We are all equal taxpayers. There are no special Kenyans. We are all Kenyan taxpayers and we expect to have an equitable distribution of resources. Again, when the NARC Government took over power, it gave a very firm undertaking that it was going to eliminate the cow-boy contractors in this country. It is sad to note that slowly but surely, the cow-boy contractors are finding a place in this country again. The kind of works that are being done on our roads are very wanting. Contractors are making roads that do not last even for five years. A road is done and within five years, it is completely worn out. We should improve on the available technology than going lower than what used to happen. In the 1960s and 1970s, contractors used to make roads that lasted for 25 to 30 years. What happened? I would like to urge the Minister to be very tough on the contractors and ensure that whenever a contractor is given a job to do, he does it to the specifications in the books. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy that the Government is finally doing something about the Naivasha-Nakuru Road. This is a very important road to this Republic. It is one of our international highways. It has been a nightmare for the users of that road, especially some of us who have to use the road to get to our constituencies every weekend. We are happy that July 19, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2221 works are going on, on this road. However, I want to make one complaint to the Minister about the speed at which the contractor is undertaking the works. I thought that part of the agreement was that the detour must also be maintained by the contractor. The detour is a nightmare; it gets very dangerous driving on it at night. So, I want to urge the Ministry to ensure that the contractor completes this job in time. The Ministry should also carry out inspections to ensure that the contractor completes the job to the required specifications. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also want to thank the Government for providing funds to complete Kambogi-Serem Road, which happens to be in my constituency. This is a project that stalled more than five years ago. I am so happy that resources have been found through the People's Republic of China, to complete the road. All we want to ask is for the process to be expedited so that works commence very soon. I also urge the Minister to ensure that the contractor does a good job, not like the one who was there earlier on who did the job and after a few months, the tarmac was peeling off. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, last but not least, I want to talk about the Roads Maintenance Unit. When I was in the Ministry, we used to have a unit within the Ministry that was known as the Roads Maintenance Unit. This is a unit that has failed this country totally. It is pointless for us to invest a lot of taxpayers' money in constructing a road and then we fail to maintain it. This particular unit should take its work seriously and make sure that roads are well maintained; drainages are opened always because flooding destroys the roads. They should make sure that potholes are resealed before the road is totally damaged. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}