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{
    "id": 381998,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381998/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 180,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "the pathetic living conditions of the community around that river. During the time of floods, these people have to leave their ancestral lands to the highlands surrounding the Kano Plains. This thing has been happening for a long time. We have people in Mwea Settlement Scheme who, every other day, are in water. There is no adequate sanitation so you wonder what happens when there is a call of nature. These people just kneel down and do their thing because there are no toilets. So, what happens to people living downstream? This is a canal supplying water to residents living downstream. Those people downstream drink this water. So, the kind of diseases we are talking about like malaria, typhoid, cholera and so on will come up. These people are emaciated to the level where they look like skeletons walking because they do not even have time to eat. Most of the time they are trying to battle with water supply which is little, struggling with health conditions which are very bad and at the end, what they get from their sweat is negligence. In Mwea, the rice that these residents grow has no market because other international countries have come to dump their rice in Kenya. So, we need protection. We need to know what is happening in the country. Why are residents of such schemes suffering? We have Mwea farmers suffering from the flooding of rice imported from Pakistan and Japan. I also note that Japan has imposed 700 per cent duty on anything imported to Kenya. In Kenya we have liberalized the market and as a result the farmers are suffering. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, coming to Turkwel, this is a multipurpose development scheme and the Government should know that. If it is a multipurpose development scheme, we need to take care of the undertaking that the Government will have with locals and the international companies which are engaged in development so that people do not suffer. You do not displace the residents just because the area is commissioned for development. We need to mind about their plight. These are the people who have been living there for a long time and they do not know any other land. The best land they know is where they are settled, so displacing such people is wrong. It is not right to have them displaced without giving them alternative land. That is what we are discussing here. Therefore, it is important for the nation to know that a mistake was committed to the residents of Turkwel and the Government should move with speed to make sure that the anomaly is arrested. We would like to see Turkwel turned into a tourist resort. That is one of the reasons why we have a multipurpose development scheme. We would like to see tourists coming from Ethiopia, Uganda and other countries just like some of us go to Turkwel to see those famous crocodiles that eat sheep and goats belonging to the residents around the lake. This is a lake which, if developed, can attract tourism as I have said and therefore needs to be protected. It is not just a Turkana or Pokot project but this is a project that can generate a lot of money and bring in a lot of foreign exchange through tourism to this country. This is what we are encouraging. More of such dams should be constructed in Kenya. For example, we should have one in 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."
}