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{
    "id": 382885,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/382885/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 54,
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    "content": "Gusiiland. So, this Motion is a welcome move. We expect that the relevant Government agencies like the Ministry of Environment to involve the UN agencies also to devolve their activities to the county levels. Mr. Deputy Speaker, we talk about attaining a 10 per cent forest cover by 2015. As of now, not much has been done in this direction. We saw when the late hon. Michuki showed us the way of doing things in this country. We need men and women to follow his example. We want men and women in this country, on the matters of environment, to stand up, fight and honour the late Laureate Wangari Maathai, when she fought for this country’s environment by planting trees. The issue of many hospitals in terms of disposal of their waste is also not catered for. I come from Nyamira County. We have a district hospital which has been there for 30 years. They do not have a disposal facility for their waste. I think my Colleague, Sen. Lesan, who is a medic, alluded to this issue. It causes a lot of immediate and far reaching consequences. Mr. Deputy Speaker, a year ago, we saw dead birds and fish floating in waters of Lake Elementaita. It was given coverage in the media, but there was no follow up on this issue. So, this Motion is a welcome move. We are heading to July and you can see that most of us who are getting past 40 are in our cardigans. The weather pattern in this country was not like this many years ago. This has been made so by the big powers largely in terms of environmental degradation. These are the consequences of the damage of the upper soil layer. For this country to move forward and safeguard the interest of the young generations, some of whom are seated here at the Gallery, we need to take urgent action to deal with these issues. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the other day, I watched a television news item where an 80 year old woman was warming herself in some parts of Laikipia County because of this environmental degradation. So, for those who watched that news clip, it shows that this country is drifting to the levels of western part of Europe where they suffer from the dangers of environmental degradation. We are going to witness winter in this country whereas this country was taken to be the city in the sun throughout the year. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the issue of compensation is in the right direction. We do not want meagre penalties for these conglomerates so that when they mess up our environment, they are slapped with meagre fines. We need something which is punitive even if it means it closes those factories or industries down. Mr. Deputy Speaker, with those few remarks, I beg to support."
}