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"id": 242236,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Nyachae",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Roads and Public Works",
"speaker": {
"id": 342,
"legal_name": "Simeon Nyachae",
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"content": "We are continuing with the exercise which does not only target engineers, but also architects. Therefore, if you have concrete information, we welcome it. However, personal dislike of an officer is not enough reason to take disciplinary action against an officer. Let us have concrete evidence and we shall surely deal with that officer. It is true that we have transferred a good number of them and suspended others. So, we have not turned a deaf ear to what is going on in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the creation of new institutions will be done after the relevant Bills have been brought to this House. You are the ones who will advise on how we finally establish these new institutions. You will, in fact, decide what kind of institutions we are going to have. This is not a matter for the Ministry or Government alone. Donor-funded projects normally have a lot of delays. Sometimes hon. Members may complain that we are not moving fast enough. However, it is a major problem that once you have agreed in principle with the donors, then you have to agree with them on the consultants also. Once you have done that, the design that you come up with must be sent to the donors for approval. Once the approval has been received, we have to do the same thing about tendering. The tenders have to be sent to the donors too. They really take us in circles and so it takes too long. However, I want to assure this House that we are speeding up what is already in the pipeline. Two months ago, I communicated with the World Bank and we have agreed that they will accelerate whatever bit is on their side with regard to our proposals. We are also in discussion with the European Union (EU). So, hon. Members, we are doing what we can. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the hon. Member for Taveta mentioned her district in her speech. I did not ignore her district. I am, in fact, at a very advanced stage of negotiating for funds from the EU to construct the Voi-Taveta Road. However, I cannot indicate that in the Printed Estimates before the agreement is signed. I am not blind to the needs of the people of that area. There are certain roads that were mentioned here and they are actually in our programme. For instance, we have almost completed discussions with the EU with regard to the Mau Summit- Kericho-Kisumu Road. Also, we have already awarded contracts for the Nakuru-Mau Summit Road and the Mau Summit-Timboroa Road. So, we are making a lot of progress. The road from Likoni Ferry to Ukunda is in our programme. We have started to construct a bypass from Mazeras to Ukunda. It is only that we cannot include everything in the Printed Estimates and especially when the programme is not ready. Some hon. Members have complained that their districts have been neglected. My colleagues from Nyanza Province, especially Kuria and Kisii districts, have complained bitterly that no money has been allocated to construct roads in their districts. However, July 19, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2231 the truth of the matter is that there are ongoing programmes in those districts only that I did not put them in the Printed Estimates. For example, Butere-Musanda Road; and Ugunja-Ukwala Road have been allocated Kshs109 million in the ongoing programme. Kombewa-Maseno Road project has been allocated Kshs109,670,000 while Awasi-Katito Road has been allocated Kshs137 million. In North Eastern Province, the Mandera-El Wak Road has been allocated Kshs294 million although it is not indicated in the Estimates. So, it is not compulsory that we indicate in the Estimates what is ongoing. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Members talked about road bumps. This is not the responsibility of the Ministry. It is schools or hospitals which complain first and then the District Development Committees (DDCs) write a report. When we get the report we contact the traffic police. Normally, what we do is to place road signs to warn motorists and also give specifications of the bumps to be erected. Some bumps are too high and others too rough. We need to standardise our specifications on bumps. I agree that we need to come up with a policy on road gravelling. Once we agree on that, I will seek audience with the Departmental Committee on Energy, Communications and Public Works. I will brief them and require them to advise me accordingly with regard to my Ministry's policy on road gravelling. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, regarding the quantities by the Ministry of Roads and Public Works, I have noted the comments by hon. Members and I have instituted measures to establish the discrepancies in the cost of projects conceived by the Ministry. It is true that we have a few problems here and there regarding the way projects are conceived and costed. Let me mention here that there is a major issue of cost per kilometre of tarmacked roads. We must address that. In some places, it is over Kshs20 million per kilometre. The road from Busia to Port Victoria is costing Kshs18 million per kilometre. So, we must reduce the gap. But we also have to appreciate the specifications of the road; how thick is the tarmack. That also has an element on the cost. I have talked about the Likoni Channel. The Kapenguria-Lodwar Road has been earmarked for construction. As I am talking, we are holding discussions with Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) to construct the Kapenguria-Lodwar-Lokichoggio Road. The Kinangop-Aberdare- Nyeri Road has been talked about for a long time, but we have to look at the sharing of the resources. We do not have to give all the money to one area. The country needs a lot more. The Mariakani-Kilifi Road has been allocated Kshs101 million. So, I think for Mombasa, you should be reasonably happy. Promises have been given to construct the Isiolo-Moyale Road for a very long time. We are now determined to move on. We are starting 134 kilometres first. I do not know of any contractor whom we can give a road stretching 300 kilometres and complete it within one year! So, we are dividing the road into segments. We are awarding the contract for the first segment of 134 kilometres. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will not talk about every single road and all the complaints that you have raised because we have tabulated everything that you have said. I now want to emphasize that the proposal to have a 24-hour working schedule is something that we are now going to including as a policy. Regarding public procurement and disposal, we are following the law. Variation orders are not allowed. That is a policy! We have emphasized that to the engineers. We shall not entertain any variation orders unless they bring - and that will have to go to the Roads Committee of Parliament - reasons for the variation. The Professor said that we should not clear the bushes and road reserves. There are very good reasons why we must preserve road reserves. This country is developing and the roads that we have are too narrow. We must retain road reserves to open up the roads as and when we feel that the traffic has increased. If we do not protect those reserves, we 2232 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 19, 2006 shall have what is happening at Mlolongo here. They have encroached on road reserves and they want to be protected. We cannot allow that. The road reserves must be protected. We cannot stop clearing the road reserves because of traffic reasons. The drivers need to see who is coming. We cannot just be sentimental about trees at the expense of human life. So, I think we need to be reasonable about some of those matters. We are all supporting the environment---"
}