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{
    "id": 405864,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/405864/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 136,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there is also the issue of heavy metal. These are metals that are useful in the medical industry. In this particular case, I am thinking about mercury. Mercury is one of those heavy metals that we use in various ways in medicine or in homes. There is mercury in our fridges, in our cell-phones, in paint manufacturing industry and so on. Once this mercury is used as a by-product, it is not managed properly and it goes into the system. For these heavy metals, if they get into the food chain, they will end up on our tables and we know the serious consequences that can be brought by these heavy metals. There are also increasing numbers of nuclear materials and nuclear waste. We now have MRIs in hospitals, we have scans, we have x-rays and all these have elements of nuclear material in them. We need to use a lot of technical know-how to handle these wastes because they are our present day challenges, unlike the cases of diarrhoea. These are challenges that are coming to us and we must deal with them. There are things that we could do and recommend to handle this: The first one is that we must have a clear and updated futuristic policy in which we can handle these new challenges that are facing us. Therefore, it is very important that we work on a policy that addresses all these issues using the current knowledge which is available. The second thing is that it is important to educate our society using the new knowledge that is available. They must be informed in order to protect themselves before the policy helps to protect them. The third thing that we need to do is to provide some penalties for this mischief of throwing out waste and influencing other people’s lives. I am thinking of heavy deterrent penalties for those individuals who are going to generate the type of waste that I am talking about, particularly foreigners who dump waste in our coastline. We are aware that countries have challenges of disposing of waste and they would usually dump them in coastlines of countries that are not awake to the reality of these issues. Therefore, we need to hand them heavy penalties. Last year, there was a container which was received in Mombasa which contained nothing but rubbish sent from the United Kingdom (UK) to Kenya and it was a Kenyan who had imported that waste, perhaps in full knowledge that it was waste. These are some of the ways in which foreign counties dump their waste. Lorries that are leaking chemicals along the highways may not be accidental; these are ways in which some countries are dumping waste that they could not dump in other countries. Therefore, we need a law and also get engaged in international treaties where we can participate with other countries to dispose of some of these materials. It is not enough to bury them in a hole somewhere because they will leak and get into the soil. So, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this Motion is very important and appropriate. It is one of those Motions through which we can generate relevant Bills that can impact on our country. To support this a bit further, I would like to suggest an amendment to this Motion. The amendment is supported by the contents of our Constitution in the Fourth Schedule, Part II, Section 2(g) which requires the county governments to be participants in cleaning the environment. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, this is the amendment; THAT the Motion be amended by inserting the words “working together with the national government” 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"
}