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{
    "id": 530653,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/530653/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
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    "content": "We must also be very clear to ensure that the responsibilities and powers that are given for the preparation of national environmental action plans and environmental impact assessments must not be an opportunity for people to create middlemen, so that they can make it difficult for certain persons that are pursuing projects to achieve. We must also provide clear mechanisms for transparency to avoid corruption and use of regulatory procedures and institutions for purposes of making it more difficult for people to do business in Kenya or do what they ought to do rightfully for the benefit of the people. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I am so impressed by Clause 38 – and this should also impress the Senator for Mombasa - which provides that a person responsible for polluting or hazardous substance which is discharged to the coastal zone shall be held responsible for it. The coast region has suffered a lot as a result of pollution by companies, factories and persons who do not care about the future of this country. That has resulted in the destruction of people’s lives. It goes even ahead to destroy our heritage as a nation. It makes it difficult for tourists to come and enjoy our beautiful coastline, if they see the pollution of the sea, coastline and beaches. This is in consonance with the “polluter pays” principle of the international environmental law. We must hold those who are polluting our environment responsible but this should not just be confined to the coast region. It must be apply both to our cities and villages, where factories are built. It must also go to all institutions of Government or private institutions that are operating anywhere in this country. They must provide proper sewer systems where all materials are checked before they are disposed to rivers and lakes, so that our country can become clean and healthy. If we can set this “polluter pays” principle and make it very clear, it will be expensive for factories to dispose of waste and cause pollution. If you go to Kayole, Eastleigh and many parts of Eastlands, there is a big problem. The Nairobi River has been polluted and is stinking. You will find people washing their clothes on the river bank and even bathing. The reason poor people are suffering is because a rich man somewhere is taking a shortcut in terms of the requirements of the law to ensure that whatever they discharge to the rivers or outside their factories must be clean. The Senate Minority Leader talked about the need to protect our forests. That is a very important point. If you overfly most of the forests in this country, you will feel sick. Two weeks ago, I travelled to Mt. Elgon, which is in Bungoma County, Cherangany Hills which is in my own place and Mau. I saw fire and smoke everywhere. As the Senate Minority Leader said, that is a disaster because we have lost perhaps even 2,000 acres of forest as a result of fire, either engineered by individuals, illegal loggers or charcoal burners. The first thing that I did was to ask the Kenya Forest Service if they had the aerial capacity to put off fire in our forests in the most difficult terrains. I realized that they do not have that capacity. Therefore, the National Assembly should budget accordingly for the Kenya Forest Service to acquire firefighting equipment to put off forest fires in Mt. Kenya, Mt. Elgon and Mau Forest, because this can really be a disaster. Even as we do that, there are communities which lived within the forest for many years. One of those communities is my own community. There are also communities that lived in the Mau Forest for a long time. One of the things that must be done for those who have lived and interacted with the forests for many years is to create incentives to show 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."
}