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{
    "id": 670288,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/670288/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 185,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kubai Iringo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1574,
        "legal_name": "Cyprian Kubai Iringo",
        "slug": "cyprian-kubai-iringo"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for this opportunity. I support the Motion on the Establishment of Fisheries Training Institutions and Fish Processing Plants as it has been tabled today by Hon. Rose Nyamunga and I congratulate her for having brought it. It is a well thought Motion and one which will bring professionalism in this great fishing industry. This country is endowed with a lot of natural resources, be they minerals, oil, food, flora and fauna. We have never taken the pain to develop what we found in this great country of ours. We have been using our natural resources in their raw way or we just accept that nature gave them to us and so they have to remain the same. We continue using them the same way not knowing that the population is increasing, new dynamics and dimensions are coming in and some things are being overtaken by events. The fishing industry is looked down upon and is seen as a preserve of the communities in the lake region or along the Indian Ocean. Given our lifestyles, we are now told by doctors that eating fish is healthy. Many people have embraced eating fish even in areas that do not have lakes. We should develop our resources and use exotic ways of producing fish. The Government is trying to ensure that we have as many fishponds as possible in the country. Rearing of fish in our rural areas has not been taken seriously and effectively by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Lake Victoria, where most of the fish that we eat comes from, has been invaded by hyacinth. There is an authority which is supposed to look into it but it has not gone out of its way to protect the lake, the only lifeline of fish in our country. There is wanton harvesting of fish in the lake. We should have periods for fish harvesting and ones for fish reproduction. We should not reach a point where we do not have fish in our lakes. We have Tana River, and I normally pass by Sagana on my way to the constituency and I see so many young boys going to that river to get fish. Sometimes you find them with big fish and sometimes they have very tiny fish that they cannot even sell because their fishing nets have small holes. They throw away the small fish instead of returning them into the water to breed again. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, we should have ways of preserving our natural resources. We should also use modern ways to preserve fish for days. Some countries preserve food for even a year to avoid wastage. In Europe, you can find beef imported from Namibia and Botswana after six months or more. In Kenya, fish has to be rushed from Kisumu to Nairobi because it will rot if there is any delay since it is carried in a very haphazard way. Miraa is transported from Meru on vehicles driven as if they are flying because they do not want it to dry. We should embrace modern ways of trade. We should have vehicles equipped with modern fridges. Hon. (Ms.) Nyamunga is proposing that once fish is processed, it should be preserved for future use instead of eating the whole of it the same day simply because you do not have a way of preserving it before it rots. We have several lakes that can enable us produce fish that can be exported. It is sad that we are now importing fish from China, a country with a billion people and still have enough fish to eat and export. We are only 42 million, with several lakes and rivers, but we import fish. Foreign exchange should have a balance. We should expand the markets, get the right equipment and allocate money for the same. When money is allocated to various Government agencies here, you will hear people saying that the Fisheries Department should be left because fish is for the Luos. Fish is for all of us. We should allocate enough money for that purpose so that we can get the right equipment, personnel, right machinery and have grounds to preserve fish. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}