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{
    "id": 382034,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/382034/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 216,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "construction of this massive project, has actually been the cause of misery for the local people in West Pokot. Although the nation has largely benefitted through additional generation of electricity, back in West Pokot it has brought poverty to the people. The project has displaced 1,700 people and because of that families have been separated. The families which were together do not meet or share together. This is really the impact of this particular project. Madam Temporary Speaker, we have been told that the livelihoods of people have been disrupted. Those who were engaged in exploitation of gold no longer do so and have to find other activities to engage in, in order to earn a livelihood. Pastures have been destroyed, leading to people resorting to the bad culture of rustling and so on. Communication was also cut off and movement became difficult around this particular area. A new form of transport – the canoes – was introduced. These canoes have been a source of accidents and death to the local people. Crocodiles have also found a new habitat in that area. They have become a danger to human beings and livestock in that area. Worse still, the dam has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes kill because they transmit malaria which is a killer. So, women, children and grown-ups in Pokot have died out of malaria. It is a serious matter when you look at it from that perspective. Madam Temporary Speaker, I think that the Government should have done more than it appears to have done. We should have carried out programmes to educate, teach and induct the people of West Pokot on alternative ways of living. We should have taught them on how to engage in alternative activities for a livelihood, like agriculture. This is because this dam was intended to introduce a new way of life for them. We should have taught them that agricultural activities can be undertaken through irrigation downstream and all that. They should have been taught how to take advantage of this and maximize from the fish industry that was introduced in this area. All that was not done and it is very bad. Madam Temporary Speaker, KenGen which is largely responsible for the operations at this dam of generating electricity, does not appear to have undertaken its corporate social responsibility seriously. It does not seem to have integrated itself with the communities in West Pokot. They do not seem to have wanted to associate at all with the local communities and so, they have introduced a new culture and the people of West Pokot are referring to these new people as foreigners. This is very unfortunate. I am sure that KenGen has the capacity to do better. So, I would urge the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum and the Ministry of Mining to try and focus a little more on their operations in Turkwel Gorge, so that they can create a more positive image of themselves, by associating and engaging with the communities. Madam Temporary Speaker, even on the issue of jobs, we have been told that KenGen brings workers from Nairobi and other parts of Kenya."
}