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"content": "Therefore, I wish to raise this as a matter that should be looked at from a boarder perspective. We have seen a lot of Government projects, for example, the building of roads within this country. I come from a county where a lot of people lost their land and they have not been compensated. We have seen a lot of development of water projects which involves the laying down of pipes to supply water to the various towns and counties and people end up losing their property and yet the Government is not keen on compensating them. We need to encourage the Government that before they engage in any of these projects, they need to do a feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment. More importantly, we need to assess and look at how many communities are going to suffer, how many livelihoods are going to be curtailed and how many people are going to be affected, and then provide mechanisms to ensure that these issues are addressed. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in the case of the building of Turkwel Dam, if you look at the kind of landmass that is now covered by the dam, we are talking about huge acres of land. We need to provide for a mechanism where communities who lost this land, whereas we are aware that this land was not private – this is one of the major issues that we need to address – people may not have title deeds, but we know this is community land and we know the various communities and households that were affected. We must be able to provide alternative settlement so that we are able to look around the entire Pokot region and identify alternative land to resettle these communities. At the very least, we need to provide them with social amenities. If you look at the Constitution, Article 66 (2) states that local communities must benefit from investment in property. This investment is either by national Government, the county government or private investors. In a situation like the one we are discussing in this Motion, instead of communities benefiting, they are suffering. We must address some of these issues. I come from a county where, already the national Government, mid last year identified a project that they are keen on building another dam. We are told of the very many benefits that are likely to accrue from it. Some of us, as leaders, within Nandi County, were almost starting to consider and accept this project. But with the kind of situation that the community in Pokot is going through, we, as a leadership, are no longer keen until we clearly understand how the Government will deal with the negative impact of such kinds of projects. It is, therefore, important for this House to pass this Motion. But more importantly, we must make sure issues raised here are implemented to the logical conclusion. I, therefore, want to join the Mover of the Motion in asking the national Government to carry out the corrective measures, especially having looked at the studies in other areas. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Mover of the Motion has made it clear that people were not compensated. As a House, one of our responsibilities is to protect the interests of counties, but more importantly, the greater goal, is to ensure equality. For members who were affected in this project to feel that they are part and parcel of this country and that this House understands the challenges that they are going through, we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}