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"id": 246543,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Bahari",
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"legal_name": "Abdul Bahari Ali Jillo",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you for giving me this chance to June 20, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 1455 make my contribution. First, I want to congratulate the Minister for making an innovative attempt to try and draw up a Budget. Roads is one of the key infrastructures that a country must always address. I am happy that some additional funds have been allocated for road maintenance at the district and constituency levels. Having said that, I would like to mention the fact that, funds have been allocated to constituencies according to population and poverty indices. In the same vein, I would like the Minister to also consider the length of roads in a particular constituency as a factor to determine how much is to be allocated for purposes of road maintenance. That is because all constituencies are not of the same size. My constituency is more or less the same as Central Province, in terms of area and road network. If we are going to say that all constituencies will receive the same amount without any consideration to the lengths of roads, then some of us will continue to be marginalised forever and ever. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wonder who wants to preside over a Government that grossly and perpetually skews resources towards some areas and forgets others. I have neighbours who benefit a lot from funds meant for roads. In my constituency, a road which is over 200 kilometres is allocated only Kshs120,000. My neighbour is allocated Kshs100 million. Otherwise, overall, I want to say that the allocations have been increased. However, we must improve on how we allocate those funds. One of the biggest things that this country has to live with, if it does not address this point in time, is the gross inequality between regions, zones and parts of this country. That is a matter that has to be addressed at this particular time. We should not wait and leave that problem to the future generations. We can only address that if we remain objective and make sacrifices. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since Independence, we have been crying about the Isiolo-Moyale and Garissa-Mandera roads. We want to link 60 million people in Ethiopia with Kenya. If anybody wants to see this country turn around, that is where we should be going to. I do not know what is wrong with the Ministry of Finance! They need to look at this matter very seriously. Is the Ministry of Finance addressing short-term issues only? Are we addressing micro- issues only? We must address matters in the right perspective. Our perspective plan must be right. We must be seen to be addressing macro-issues at the Ministry level. If you link up with that population, you are going to revolutionalize the economy of this country. Even issues of unemployment that we always talk about will end. We will be searching for people to employ! When we do not have that kind of vision, we keep on chasing small issues like road licences and over-taxing Kenyans. It is common knowledge that Kenyans are one highest taxed citizens in the world. They do not, correspondingly, enjoy high quality services. That is where the problem lies. Instead of doing that, we want to keep on taxing Kenyans more and more. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Members who have spoken before me have addressed that issue adequately. They have said that the increase of the price of fuel by over Kshs3 per litre is unfair at this point in time. That is because of the obvious dominal effect that, that will have on the economy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to address the issue of inflation. As much as the Minister is looking at inflation at below 5 per cent, I do not see how that will be achieved. He is intending to bridge the budget deficit through sale of parastatals. We know that, that has not been very easy. Therefore, what he will ultimately do to bridge that gap is to borrow from the local market. That will add the inflation pressure at the end of the day. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister talked about a \"good business environment\" in 2007/2008. That is neither here nor there! We must create a right business environment now, instead of making mere political statements. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, where disasters have occurred in the past, the Government response has not been good. I am happy that, at least, something has now been put up 1456 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES June 20, 2006 in form of a Disaster Fund. However, we need the Government to closely link up with organisations like the Kenya Red Cross. They have done an excellent job. They need to be supported so that they can provide the best. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to appreciate the fact that, we are addressing issues concerning the youth. The best way to do it is to, first of all, provide them with the necessary skills to earn a living. We hope that, that will also include other incentives, so that the youth can realise the benefit of that funding. We hope that will not be politicised. I strongly support the move on Government vehicles. We want the Government to implement that without delay. That is the way other countries have gone. I think we better start it off, irrespective of however small it will be. That is something we need to manage properly. This regime has bought the most fancy and expensive vehicles in the market. That needs to be reined in. The time is now!. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are happy that the Ministry of Health has been left out in the move against Government vehicles. It does not have enough vehicles. Having said that, I would like to note that the quality of services offered by the Ministry of Health have gone down of late. I am happy to note that the Assistant Minister is here. We have complained about that to the highest level. But that is largely because of inadequate personnel at the dispensary and health centre levels. You will realise that most dispensaries in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) are run by one nurse. He or she has to go for his or her salary, leave and attend to other personal problems. You will realise that, most of the time, patients are not attended to and those dispensaries remain closed. In health centres, the standard number of staff is 16 and above. However, in some cases, we only have two or three officers. That is not bringing services closer to the people. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}