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{
    "id": 530660,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/530660/?format=api",
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    "content": "country, it will not be possible. At least the Constitution has given us a chance to devolve these functions to the counties and we must do that through legislation. That is why we are here. If we do not carry and take along the community, these conflicts will always lead to destruction of our environment and wildlife; things we cannot take back. The logging going on in this country and I say that because another Senator has said it - that it is becoming political, even if we want to victimize the people who have been in the shamba system due to a breakdown of our own system because they do not understand what it exactly means to encroach forests. Every day, there is logging going on, charcoal being transported and it still goes through our weigh bridges and roads. Corruption will finish this country, whether in environment, even if we have very good laws, as long as the implementation is not being done properly, then we will keep re- writing again and again, every year. This Bill seeks to put very punitive consequences in terms of pollution of the environment especially if you are found to have discharged something into the lakes or ocean that is destructive to either life or water. This law will have some clear cut consequences but they are good only if they are implemented. If they are not, they will remain good in paper. The establishment of County Environmental Committees, though even when you read the Bill, you find that the authority will still be housed in Nairobi, it also has a qualifier to say that the services must reach every corner of this country. The reason why Kenyans voted very overwhelmingly for the 2010 Constitution is to make sure that services are closer. If we leave the community out of this, even establishing county environmental committees will not be enough. We must cascade down to the sub-county level and the village level and let everyone have a stake to feel that the environment is their responsibility. We must link the problems that are going on in this country with our own destruction, with our own hands as a country and the part we have played as human beings to cause us to be where we are today. About 80 per cent of this country’s landmass is basically Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASAL) and as a people, we are just adding to that percentage every day by our actions by making sure that we move into the forests; by protecting those that move into the forests and by making sure that nothing is done in terms of consequences for anyone who has taken part in the destruction of forests. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the environment is quite a wide subject; even when we talk about mining, we are talking about the environment. When we open up the coal basins in Kitui for mining, what does it mean for the environment? It again takes us back to this law; that is why we are saying that the harmonization of the laws must be very clear. When you talk about titanium mining in Kwale, it is not just mining and we must not just focus on the royalties. We must not just say “let us talk about how much is in it for me.” When we talk about public participation and public awareness that is very well provided for in Clause 9 of this Bill, we must teach the public and show them that it is not just about you and just about the money today. When we talk about rehabilitation of whatever landmass we open up in mining, we must put it in law, even as we develop the Mining Bill, that the person or the company extracting the minerals must take part in the 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."
}