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"speaker_name": "Mr. Maore",
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"legal_name": "Richard Maoka Maore",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, from the outset, I beg to support the Vote for the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. This is because the content this year is different from that of last year. Last year, we had a problem of allocation of money and the Vote had to be deferred. However, it is good to note that the face of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works is 2134 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES July 18, 2006 different from that of last year. We now have a different Minister, Permanent Secretary and Chief Engineer of Roads. The ones who were in office last year brought a lot of problems to the Vote. If you also look at the allocations to the districts, this year, they are beyond the three spots where a lot money had been concentrated. It is always good when positive things have happened, we salute the Government and move forward. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister has enumerated what policy changes he intends to put forward. To begin with, on this issue of public/private partnerships, we need structures in our laws to attract private funding in our infrastructure. We need to change the law in order to match the policies. They are good, but we have not had the laws changed. For the last three years since these issues were raised by the Ministry, we have been stating here that we need to change the laws in order to match our policy intentions. As of now, even if you read the Miscellaneous Amendment Bill that is coming later, it has not been put there. The Ministry of Roads and Public Works needs to do some homework before bringing the Bill before this House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are having the issue of the contracts which are taking a very long time to finalize. We also need a time limit of how many or how long when it comes to extensions before the completion dates of contracts. The road network offers a very essential service. We cannot have the luxury like the way we would have a stalled building where the contractor would disappear even for five years and then come back and begin from where he left. There is a lot of misery and damage caused to vehicular traffic on our roads when a contractor stays there and sticks there forever. When you ask why they are taking that long, you are told that the Ministry has not paid them. When you ask the people in the Ministry, they tell you that they have no backlog of any payment. So, we need those things to be streamlined so that we do not have a problem when it comes to contracts being given and then the contractors end up sticking there forever. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another issue is about the cost of roads. The previous Minister had put a very strong case and they had brought down the cost of constructing one kilometre of road from about Kshs40 million to Kshs20 million. We have not heard emphasis. For example, in our neighbouring country of Uganda, where most of the bitumen used is transported from the Port of Mombasa, the cost of constructing one kilometre of road is Kshs11 million. In Kenya, the average cost is between Kshs30 and Kshs50 million, if not higher than that. So, we need some specific structures to be put in place so that our country is not looted dry by the contractors in our road sector. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you look at what has been happening on the district allocations where 24 per cent has been going while the constituencies have been getting 15 per cent, that money has not had an impact on the ground. We also want to applaud the acceptance by the Ministry to effect changes so that more money can go directly to the constituencies instead of going to be the cream to fatten the bureaucrats of the Ministry in our district headquarters. We have seen the issue which has been raised by the Minister about hiring out of equipment. Many hon. Members, through the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) are able to grade almost 100 kilometres of road with Kshs1 million unlike the three or five kilometres that they have been grading with the Kshs5 million they have been getting. I am aware that from 1st January, 2006, the Ministry of Roads and Public Works is hiring out equipment at a cost of Kshs3,177 per hour. If you compute that amount, you will find that through the CDF, with Kshs500,000---"
}