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{
    "id": 28205,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/28205/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 739,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "We find ourselves in the situations that we are in, especially in the planning and management of cities, because of lack of such an institution that can guide planning and protection of the environment. We also have a provision here which is now going to involve the public, who are the end users of all land planning activities. We now have a process which is enshrined in this Bill, by which their opinions will be listened and factored in when it comes to matters of land planning. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, another thing which has been provided by this Bill is found in Clause 18. In exercising their jurisdiction, there is contained herein a set of guiding principles, especially under Clause 18(a)(i), which will be dealing with disputes relating to the environment and land. It says that in exercising its jurisdiction under the Act, the courts shall be guided by the principles of public participation in development of policies. This is a very timely provision but the most impressive of them all is the guiding principle of polluter pays. For a long time, the poor man in this country and elsewhere has been made to bear the burden of multinationals that mint money on our own land. A company will come here, establish its operations, pollute our environment and land yet it does not undertake to give back to the community, or to even act responsibly by paying for the damage it causes. Ironically, you find that all the negative effects of such activities are borne by the poor within our environment. Examples are all the industries operating in Nairobi’s Industrial Area and polluting Nairobi River. Those who suffer most from that pollution are the slum dwellers – people who earn less than one US Dollar in a day in the slums of Mathare, Korogocho, and all the riparian communities downstream, all the way up to the Indian Ocean. With the enactment of this Bill and this court, this kind of action will stop. From now henceforth, it will be for every man to carry his own cross. With those remarks, I beg to support."
}