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{
    "id": 504765,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/504765/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 133,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Abdalla",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 382,
        "legal_name": "Amina Ali Abdalla",
        "slug": "amina-abdalla"
    },
    "content": "to the Council which did not even work and had many members in the past. It also had very few meetings because the meetings depended on the availability of the Minister. The next institution that has been proposed for abolition is the Public Complaints Committee (PCC). This is where members of the public can report maladministration by NEMA or by other individuals who may have infringed their right to a clean environment. The Committee disagrees with the amendment due to the fact that this is a cheap method for members of the public who do not have access to legal services. We were informed by members of the public that the Public Complaints Committee had overlapping roles with the Commission on Administrative Justice, better known as the Office of the Ombudsman. We disagree with that assertion based on the fact that the Commission on Administrative Justice is supposed to deal with maladministration that occurs when one does not receive services from public institutions, whereas the Public Complaints Committee can deal with individuals or corporations. So, a poor Wanjiku can go to the Public Complaints Committee to complain against the actions of a big corporation without having to incur extra cost. Hon. Speaker, we will further be requesting the House to give the Public Complaints Committee a further responsibility. They should also take complaints from people who cannot afford to pay for services when their environment is infringed. So, I look forward to having the House approve that amendment of not only re-establishing the Public Complaints Committee but also giving it the extra responsibility to push public interest in litigation on environment. The next institution that is proposed for abolition in this new Bill is the Standards and Enforcement Review Committee. The Committee agrees that the functions of the Standards and Enforcement Review Committee be shifted to the Cabinet Secretary. When NEMA came into place, it was supposed to be the co-ordinating institution and not the implementing institution. What has happened is that whenever NEMA takes an implementation role, they clash with new or existing institutions. One of the issues they are clashing about is the guidelines or standards to be met on air or water pollution and the rest. So, we believe that this Standards and Enforcement Review Committee has been the source of that conflict. So, we noted with concern that that is among the reasons we have taken too long. Whereas there are those issues like pesticides and radiation that have a lead agency, there are issues such as air pollution and waste management that do not have a lead agency. So, we want to retain that capacity of having to do standards with the Cabinet Secretary based on that understanding."
}