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"speaker_name": "Mr. Wanjala",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Water and Irrigation",
"speaker": {
"id": 295,
"legal_name": "Newton Wanjala Kulundu",
"slug": "newton-kulundu"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, during the preparation of this Budget, nothing was considered for the fishing industry. I will not sit down before talking about the fishing industry because whereas the Budget touched on issues to do with agriculture and livestock, there was no mention about the fishing industry. Fishermen in this country are still languishing in poverty. When will fishermen in this country hear the Minister for Finance, while reading the Budget Speech to this House, say that duty on fishing gear has been reduced? Year in, year out, as budgets continue to be read in this House, the fishing industry experiences hardship because it is never considered in terms of tax waivers. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, many hospitals in this country are full. I want to agree that this Government has sent drugs to hospitals. However, wananchi cannot afford the hospital fees. Therefore, the Government should consider reducing the Ministry of Defence Budget in order to revitalise hospitals so that they can accommodate more people. As Members of Parliament, we are faced with problems every time we go home. People ask us for money to pay hospital bills for their relatives. This has become a problem. Sometimes when we contact hospital managements for assistance, the Medical Officers of Health (MOHs) tell us to pay for the drugs. How can we afford to pay medical bills for all our constituents? It has become very difficult. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the Government is aware that there is HIV/AIDS, and that many teachers are dying of the scourge in the villages. The Government hires new teachers only once every year. Whenever there is a delay in recruiting new teachers, many schools suffer from shortage of teachers. Some schools have only five teachers against 13 streams. That means that there is no learning which takes place in such schools. The Government should provide emergency desks in areas where we have lost teachers so that new ones can be hired straightaway. We have so many trained teachers out there who can take over from the ones who have died, instead of waiting for a whole year at the detriment of the students or pupils. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Government for setting aside some money for the revival of youth polytechnics. Most Third World countries have developed because they have invested in the Jua Kali sector. If you go to Korea, China and Japan, you will see that people today are doing work manually. That is why they are developed. Youth polytechnics will help the youth who have completed secondary education to start their own businesses wherever they are. June 27, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1605 Mr. Speaker, Sir, we have, on several occasions, opposed giving so much money to private contractors through the Ministry of Roads and Public Works. The Ministry of Roads and Public Works should start using the National Youth Service and the Kenya Army to do our roads. Since we have allocated 20 per cent of our Budget to the Armed Forces, they should help the Government in rehabilitating roads. The NYS were given a chance to rehabilitate dykes in Budalangi and they did it. As I speak, the NYS is still in Budalangi. They have contained the flooding in Budalangi. Why do we not also consider giving a chance to the NYS to do our roads? It is a very good idea to give road contracts to the NYS because the money will come back to the Government to help in other areas of development. On the other hand, the Indian contractors always syphon the money back to their countries. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, I am aware of hon. Members' concerns on how the water services boards have been constituted in this country. I know that some hon. Members are not happy with many of them. We have started the process of sensitising hon. Members but some of them are not keen. We will soon organise a workshop for hon. Members and advise them accordingly. Terms of some water services boards will expire next year. When we replace them, we will consider the views of hon. Members, as raised in this House. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}