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{
    "id": 676513,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/676513/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 296,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Kang’ata",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1826,
        "legal_name": "Irungu Kang'ata",
        "slug": "irungu-kangata"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I rise to support this Motion. The reasons are several. One, if you look at Vision 2030 which this country gears to, you will find that it is a must we have this Motion put into effect. It is one of the key social and economic pillars for us to achieve Vision 2030. It appears we are off track in achieving that Vision. That Vision is based on some certain assumptions. One assumption is that we need to grow our economy at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, but so far we are cruising at about 5.5 per cent per annum. This means all factors remaining constant we shall not be able to reach that target. Therefore, this should be one of the areas that the Government should allocate more resources so that we can raise our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ensure equality. What are the benefits the society is going to accrue once we adopt this Motion? One, as has been said by previous speakers, is the issue of health. Water forms the greatest component of what we eat. Therefore, if we have clean water accessible to each and every child going to school, we will reduce the disease burden in this country. Secondly, the hours spent by school children and their parents to get water will be reduced. Those hours can be employed in more productive activities. Thirdly, this water can be used for production of agricultural produce. We can do some small irrigation which will benefit people. I have used the NGCDF money mainly to target provision of water. I have been piping water to schools. One of the reasons is that schools are objective parameters of whether you are doing a good project or not. Compare that with when you pipe water to a village. There is no indicative measure as to whether you have done that or not. I pipe water to schools and ensure our children have water. The villagers can access the water from the pipeline to schools. From my experience, I have realised once you do that, for sustainability, you need to surrender those projects to the area water companies. They are the ones to repair the taps wherever they burst and maintain the pipelines. However, I have realised that a majority of the companies are poorly managed. At times they give you advice or tell you to take water to a particular point only to find that they have very little water. When they say they will ration water, they do not do it as per the schedule. Once we pass this Motion, I think we also need to ask ourselves how we are going to ensure those projects are sustainable. I would imagine once the Government embraces this project, it may decide to sink boreholes. Again, there is the element of cost. A borehole can be powered by electricity. I am aware of some pumping which is powered by solar system. In the modern world, clean energy is now powered by solar. That is the best option. In the worst case scenario where installation cost is very high, the Government may consider sinking a borehole that is powered by electricity. It can be very expensive. Therefore, I urge that when we will be doing appropriation or a supplementary budget, we set aside some amount for this work. How much does it cost to sink a borehole, for instance? It costs about Kshs1.5 million. After that you build a pump house where you will keep the switches and install a pump. That may have cost about Kshs2 million. Then you have to build a tank. Assuming that you build a tank like the one I am building in my constituency at Kigwa Primary School, it will cost about Kshs3.4 million. That is a tank with a capacity of about 100,000 litres hosted by a 12 metre pillar. In total, with all factors remaining constant, it may cost about Kshs6 million. As 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."
}