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{
    "id": 679145,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/679145/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 205,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Barua",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1529,
        "legal_name": "Ejidius Njogu Barua",
        "slug": "ejidius-njogu-barua"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to focus on public places. I will start by ranking them in terms of schools, markets, bus stops and public parks. The Government of Kenya has already succeeded in connecting over 95 per cent of both secondary and primary schools in this country with electricity. It is only important that we as a Government move to the next level and ensure that water is available in all primary and secondary schools and all the other public places like public parks and bus stops. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, water is life. It is going to contribute positively in the school education programmes as well as afforestation programmes. Once you have water available in all schools, they would be able to start afforestation programmes and help us to achieve the target of having 10 per cent forest cover, which is actually the globally accepted minimum requirement by the UN. That is because most of them have got expansive chunks of land. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, water in schools is very important especially for class work in connection to subjects like agriculture, laboratory tests and experiments. When you do not have water in school, it will be difficult to do well in class. Availability of water in public facilities is going to cut down on the amount of money we are spending on medical bills. According to reports from the Ministry of Health, at least, 32 per cent of domestic income goes to payment of medical fees. About 2.6 million Kenyans end up in poverty because of medical expenses. When you provide water and clean sanitation in all public places, we are going to reduce emergence of some diseases which can be controlled simply by provision of water. That is why I said this Bill is timely. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, when you talk about provision of water, the water providers be it national Government or county governments, have to make sure that we get the most innovative and cheapest way possible of getting that water. Over time, we have been wasting a lot of water which can be harvested from our rooftops during rainy seasons. I propose that as we move towards achieving the objective of this Bill, we should ensure that schools internalise and accommodate water harvesting programmes. Through water harvesting, we can have stored water which is God-given. If we cannot get water from harvesting, we can get it from boreholes, national Government and county governments supply systems. Water provision is a devolved activity, but education is not devolved. It is still a national Government activity. So, I propose that even us Hon. Members of Parliament, we should be allowed to actually implement water provision projects in schools because it is what is required for schools to perform well. Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, just the other day, toilet facilities were privatised in Nairobi. But before that, all toilet facilities and sanitation facilities within the Central Business District (CBD) had collapsed and one could not get those facilities. Immediately privatisation was put in place, one can get very clean sanitation facilities which one can use at a cheap cost in all corners of Nairobi. I am saying this because if commercialisation in some places like markets is what is going to lead to sustainability and continued provision of these services, so be it. I am also proposing that in this Motion, as we move towards provision of those services, let us use innovation. Let us make the provision of water in urban areas a business. People can pay a small fee to get access to those water and sanitation facilities. When that is achieved, the facilities can be self-sustaining. Hon. Temporary Speaker, as we move towards developing this country, we should be able to move to incorporate innovation in our programmes and projects. We should be able to move to a situation of sustainability. Let us not focus our attention all the time on free donations. 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."
}