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{
    "id": 369940,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/369940/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 375,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Lagat",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 64,
        "legal_name": "Elijah Kiptarbei Lagat",
        "slug": "elijah-lagat"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me a chance to contribute to this very important Motion which deals with the lives of human beings. I think our priority as a Government is to put things right. First of all is to set a budget because emergencies are expected at any time and it is very necessary to have a budget towards disaster management. As a Government, it is necessary that it puts this into consideration. The next thing is that there are people who live in dangerous places and it is right for the Government to look for solutions like land to resettle these people. I remember in Nandi County, about five or seven years ago, there were some dangerous places where people were living on hills. They were moved from the hills to the lower areas and they were resettled. Trees were planted on the hills and it is now a forest. The problem was solved because there were landslides; stones rolling into houses and killing people. There is now a solution and for more than five years, we have not had any problem. It is also necessary to have a disaster management team because this is one of the courses offered in the university. We have so many people who have qualified in this area. I think it is necessary to set up a team that will be looking into disaster management because fire can be expected at any time and so are floods. About two or three years ago, we were talking about climate change. I remember that in Kuresoi where you come from, some people were displaced. People were living in the forest but when they left and trees were planted, within three or four months it was raining. I also failed to understand at that time what it meant that there was a change of climate all over the world. It was not caused by that area alone but it was known that there was climate change. They even announced that there would be drought followed by heavy rains. You do not move people when you are expecting heavy rains. It is better that sometimes as politicians we should not use politics. Let us not use the lives of our people and politicize things which are clear. When I talk of politics, I know of some areas where people were displaced by politicians and they planted tea and the displaced are now living in bad places. This is causing problems because people own tea estates while others live in bad places. It is better to be considerate. I have lived in Denmark which is also a flat area. I have also lived in the Netherlands for quite some time. The Netherlands is below sea level but you never get any floods because they have gauged and known the volumes of water. They have also expanded their rivers because it is better to expand rivers to accommodate more water than to wait until the rivers overflow and kill people. It is better for us to build dykes like they have done in Budalangi. We are aware that rivers always overflow but it is necessary to build dykes along the rivers so that when it rains, however much, the rivers will not overflow. Those are the right measures to put into consideration because we have to look for a lasting solution and not to wait for emergencies. We have known that the worst thing is corruption because money is allocated but people want to take advantage. They fail to provide a lasting solution. It is necessary for us to have a Bill that will put in place these measures. This year we are aware that even areas where we plant maize, it is not doing well right now and so we expect famine next year. It is necessary for the country to be prepared right now to buy the maize that is available and store it for next year because we are very sure that most of the areas that normally produce maize had so much rain and some of the farms over-flooded. Getting seeds and fertilizer was also a problem and so"
}