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"speaker_name": "Mr. ole Metito",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute on this Motion. I rise to support this Motion and agree with those who have said that it was a fairly good Budget. It is one of the best Budgets ever read in this House. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this is not the first good Budget that has ever been read in this House. In the middle of the journey, I think something goes wrong. At the beginning, we read very good budgets. At the end, we start talking about Budget deficits, misappropriation and Printed Estimates which have not actually been implemented. I wish to kindly urge the Minister to live up to his words when he said that Kenyans are no longer interested with the figures in our books, but by our actions on the ground. A lot of good things were actually printed in these Estimates. If they can be implemented, they will change the lives of Kenyans. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to agree with those who have spoken before me that the 22 districts that fall under the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) contribute to 70 per cent of the land mass of this country, as well as 25 per cent of the population. These ASALs fall squarely under the Ministry of Special Programmes in the Office of the President. Year in, year out, there have been calamities befalling these areas. I want to thank the Minister because this is the first time he has factored in some money for emergency programmes. This is a clear indication that the Government is moving towards disaster preparedness. Although the allocation may not be enough, it is a good gesture and a good beginning for the first time to put aside some money for emergency reserve. You will note that even in our Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) kitty, there is 5 per cent which is meant for emergency reserve. So, it is always good to be prepared for the unknown. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, together with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, ASALs have been given some money, mostly for water projects. In the Printed Estimates, it looks like a big amount. But going by what has happened before, where we were promised that 200 or more boreholes would be drilled in the ASAL areas; by the end of the financial year, if you were asked to identify those 200 boreholes, you could hardly see 50 per cent of them on the ground. Even when we were told that we were going to get the CDF kitty, some hon. Members were of the view that ASAL areas were getting more because they are being taken care of by the Ministry of Water and June 21, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1487 Irrigation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Special Programmes, in terms of provision of water meant for the ASAL areas. I want to request the two Ministries which undertake water projects in ASAL areas to ensure that money provided for in the Budget for water development is actually used on the ground. Currently, that is not the case. Fifty per cent of funds provided for in previous Budgets for water services in ASAL areas has not been utilised on the ground. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Government more sincerely for re- opening the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC). That is a very good gesture which will improve this country's economic growth. Yesterday, we witnessed the testrun of the KMC plant. We are, indeed, happy that the KMC is being re-opened. I wish to request the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development to extend that good gesture to other pastoral areas by opening abattoirs, which will act as feeder plants to the KMC plant at Athi River. We have several abattoirs, such as the Halal Project at Ngong, among others in northern Kenya, as well as in Coast Province. If we opened abattoirs in those areas, we would make the KMC very efficient. I wish to ask the Government to ensure that this time round, we give the pastoral communities a chance to run the KMC. These are the people who understand most, the problems of pastoral communities. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the KMC and other abattoirs are mainly meant to serve the interests of pastoralists in this country. That is the lifeline of the pastoral people. I would, therefore, kindly, request that in the management of the KMC, we appoint members of the pastoral communities to run it. They cannot joke around with it because they know that it is the lifeline of their people."
}