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"content": "you think it is good or healthy; that you are going to be very healthy when you eat them, but you do not know that you are bringing to your table polluted vegetables. This happens all over. It does not really matter where you shop; we know that these vegetables find their way to the markets. We can use all the prevention measures – and we have tried, especially in the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, where very big prevention measures were undertaken; and I know the current Ministry is also incorporating them – but there are scenarios which we cannot prevent unless we address sanitation. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the other area is that of hospital waste. We need to have plans to address hospital waste management because of radiation, which is a big cause of cancer. The other area is that of the vehicles which pollute our roads. You will see a vehicle emitting such terrible fumes – and I do not know why this is happening, because I think we have a law which is not being implemented. All those are the issues that we have to address; we need to come up with strategies on how we are going to control total pollution, be it from our vehicles; we need laws to make sure that those fumes from those big lorries and vehicles which pollute our roads are not allowed to do that. We have to control pollution in our rivers, oceans and lakes. We know there is a lot of pollution because raw sewage is discharged into the ocean and lakes. We are busy trying to control cholera, yet raw sewage is being discharged into Lake Victoria, the Indian Ocean and many rivers. So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, what I would like to suggest here is what our Committee on Health, Labour and Social Welfare is asking the Government to do, instead of a blanket thing; we have the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and there are Committees that deal with that, and any other line Ministry or Standing Committees, which are all channeled to certain Ministries; what is it that we are asking the national Government as well as the county governments to do? Because the environment, by and large, is under county governments, and we know there are these independent feelings of ‘we are doing it.’ So, as the Senate, we are in charge of the county governments; what do we want to tell the county governments to do out of this Motion? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to propose an amendment; maybe I have to write it - I do not even need to write - I do not know what the procedure is. In the past, we had to write down an amendment and bring it to the Clerk; I believe it is the same thing. My amendment is that we include not only the national Government, but also the county governments to take immediate steps to develop effective waste management regulations, because if only the national Government develops these regulations, they will have now to get the counties to adopt their regulations, whereas we can have national regulation and the counties will also have to adopt them. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, on hospital waste management, there is a pit in Oloolua that was done to bring all the waste from hospitals there; I believe it must be completed now. The waste is put there for a while waiting to be transferred elsewhere. I do not know where this ‘elsewhere’ will be. Those are the areas we also have to ask the Government to check on; how we really treat waste management. Why am I sticking to hospital waste management? It is because of radioactive pollution; and maybe because I am a victim of cancer; I tend to dwell on that much more. But as I speak now, that is a major hazard for prevention of diseases; radioactive waste management. 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"
}