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"id": 385701,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/385701/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Anyang’-Nyong’o",
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"speaker": {
"id": 193,
"legal_name": "Peter Anyang' Nyong'o",
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"content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to support this Motion for Adjournment. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to make one very simple fact or point. As we know, floods in this country are controllable, because we know their source, cause and where they occur. If you look at Budalangi and Kano, we know that everytime there are rains and both River Nzoia and River Nyando overflow their banks, therefore, there will obviously be floods. We know that the people living in those areas will move when the floods come and come back when it is dry. That pattern has been going on for years. So, we cannot really say that the solution is just to form a special taskforce, because the problem is known. What needs to be done is for the Government to get specialists, like from the Netherlands where floods were controlled many years ago. If you go to the City of Amsterdam there are canals all over the place. In fact, people move equally on boats and cars. The whole of Netherlands is a flat country. If they were to do what we do here in Kenya, they would not be living there today. They would have moved to France or somewhere like that. So, one thing that we should call on the Government to do is just to employ the necessary technology for flood control in these areas. One very simple thing which has been done in Budalangi, and the flooding has reduced to some extent, is well built dykes. These dykes stop water from going where people live. It is channelled into huge dykes where it will flow during the flooding season. When there is no flooding, there will be very little water there. The water that is left there will then be used for irrigation. So, what needs to be done is enough money to be put in the Budget for these things to be done in these places where there is flooding. In any case, flooding is not a curse, but a blessing. It means that we are getting a lot of water at a certain time. If we store it, we can use it when there is drought. We know that there is a sequence between flooding and drought. So, when we have the floods, contain them, as Joseph did in Egypt many years ago, when he was Minister for Agriculture under Pharaoh. That is why he became famous. He helped create the control of flooding in Egypt so many years ago, so that there were bumper harvests. Remember the story in Bible where somebody said that there will be so many fat cows eating lean cows. If that was done, we could do it today. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, secondly, when you go to other areas in Tana River, it is the same thing really. In a flat area when there is a lot of rain, you expect flooding. Waiting until we spend billions of shillings to give people clothes and put them in tents and then waiting again to do the same thing, actually demonstrates our lack of good policy making. So, one of the resolutions from this Motion for Adjournment is there should be technical teams set up by the Government, using modern knowledge that has been used elsewhere to do dyking and proper control. It is important to store water when it is there, so that it can be used during the dry season. Again, we do not expect the people living in these areas to go somewhere else, because living in a place is culturally tied. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support. 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."
}