HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 249304,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/249304/?format=api",
"text_counter": 31,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Capt. Nakitare",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 348,
"legal_name": "Davis Wafula Nakitare",
"slug": "davis-nakitare"
},
"content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to contribute to this Motion. September 19, 2007 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 4011 Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, all along, times have changed. It is an awakening call for this Government to make sure that we have a disaster operation unit in this country. When we talk about a disaster unit, we are talking about a search and rescue operation when there is a natural catastrophe like an earthquake. I was an eye witness on 2nd November, 1989, when an earthquake hit California in the United States of America (USA). I know what it means. It means that when there is an earthquake with a Ritcher Scale of 7.5, there is no building that can stand. There is no human being who can be rescued, unless we have disaster preparedness. Disaster preparedness does not mean having fixed industries. It means thorough training of our people, right from the schools, on how to evacuate a family of disabled, normal people, school children and babies from disasters like earthquakes. It is not standing against the wall as one hon. Member suggested the other day--- That cannot prevent a collapsing building from killing somebody. It is a matter of running away from tall buildings, tall trees and power lines. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, where did we fail? In the disaster operations that happened here in Nairobi, we have seen the cost of lack of knowledge. Even our fire-fighters are not trained. Imagine a pond in a place where people have been excavating materials for building, a person drowns and our Fire Department officers just look on. Why do we not train fire-fighters to be divers instead of waiting for personnel from Kenya Navy in Mombasa, which is over 400 kilometres away? Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, that is what is meant by preparedness as opposed to establishing an office in the Office of the President to dish out money or buy food or provide tents. That calls for search and rescue. The police unit and, other uniformed personnel, should be further trained as the first responders when there is a disaster. Up to this moment, some of them have not even gone through St. John's Ambulance first aid training. They do not even know how to resuscitate a person, or rescue a person who has suffocated. They have no first aid training. That is one of the aspects of preparedness. I do not criticise the Government, but I tell them what is necessary that they have to know. Therefore, it is the duty of this House to make sure that we draw the lines and show the Government that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by bringing to the House Motions like this one by hon. Oparanya. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when you look at our search and rescue missions, the maritime on high seas, you will realise that many people drown by the beaches. We do not have divers at hand. Most of our open beaches are left for \"swim-at-your-own risk\". There are no rescuers. That is one of the unpalatable situations, where we are not teaching our nation how to be prepared. When it comes to fire-fighting, we do not have auxiliary fire-fighters in this country. I talk about this because a Jua Kali fire-fighting auxiliary unit is required. These are volunteers who need not belong to a fire brigade, but they respond through a fire brigade when there is a fire outbreak. They know how to rescue people from burning houses. Only this morning, our attention was drawn to the fact that two children were burnt beyond recognition in a burning house. I do not think there were people in the neighbourhood. Those are some of the preparedness aspects we need to consider. Therefore, swamping this House with information in newspapers does not help. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have gone through terrorism. When we try to make laws that would scare off terrorists, we get resistance from a bona fide group of people, in the name of human rights activists, who do not want to see this Government going by law and order. When there is a blast, how many people are vigilant, or brave, enough to rescue somebody from a bombshell? How many people have been taught how to avoid the shrapnel when there is a blast? How do they take cover? How do they rescue the people who happen to be dying? That is another area. The other area of disaster management is on our roads. It is totally disastrous that our traffic police officers are not trained to rescue people from the wreckage of a vehicle. They do not have equipment with which to cut through a wreckage of a vehicle to remove people after an accident 4012 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES September 19, 2007 has happened. Those are some of the things that we would like to line up. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we do not need to be told about fever, malaria or HIV/AIDS. It is upon the Government to make sure that such areas are covered. We need this Bill to establish a unit which will be independent of the Office of the President, so that it can be autonomous and nationwide. Such a unit will help whenever there is a problem like the landslides we have witnessed. If we had this preparedness at the grassroots level, we would, definitely, save our people from the flooding that we are experiencing. Another area we have not talked about is the Meteorological Department, which now has GPS technology, which can gather data that can be analyzed to establish whether there is any looming disaster. Developed countries are advantaged because they can tell when a hurricane is developing. So, they warn their people to keep off the coastline and move to higher grounds. Sometimes our Meteorological Department does not even give us a proper weather forecast. The weather forecasting that is done by that department leaves a lot to be desired. They can tell us that it will not rain today but, in the afternoon, it may rain. What follows is that people are swept away by floods. So, we need proper equipment. That also goes for the disaster operations that we have to look into. We do not just have to look upon the uniformed officers to help us. We also have to look into the issue of provision of equipment. So, the National Disaster Management Authority that Mr. Oparanya is asking for should be given enormous support, so that we can have this country saved from some kind of deaths. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}