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{
    "id": 767843,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/767843/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 39,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mutunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13495,
        "legal_name": "John Kanyuithia Mutunga",
        "slug": "john-kanyuithia-mutunga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this important Motion. Designated emergency routes are important in cities and other congested urban centres. The situation in this country is dire because many things happen and we are unable to respond to emergencies as fast as we should. We need to reach the means to support an emergency response initiative as quickly as possible. In most cases, our roads are congested. Motorists rarely give way to emergency vehicles. The emergency vehicles we are talking about include police vehicles on emergency mode, ambulatory care vehicles and fire brigade vehicles. If you move around the roads in the city, you will realise that there are no hydro points from which to collect water for putting out fire. A fire outbreak in this city ends up consuming entire buildings. We never save the buildings because of congestion and the low speed at which we access such points. Getting injured people to specialised care centres during an emergency is also an issue. In the process of assisting injured people, we end up injuring them even more. If it were possible for specialised care to access these people faster, trained personnel would handle casualties better. However, since we do not have emergency access routes, we are not in a position to assist them. In some parts of Nairobi, we have adopted a single lane planning strategy, which enables vehicles to move in one direction. We can afford that kind of luxury but we cannot afford to provide for service lane for emergencies. This Motion is timely. We need to plan the city well. Governance in this country is now devolved. The devolved units are busy planning for their urban centres, but they are constrained because they do not have the flexibility to establish emergency lanes on time. We need this provision within the laws of Kenya to address this issue. On the other hand, we have the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) dealing with the planning. It does not have sufficient room for planning for emergency lanes because there is no legal or legislative support. That is why this Motion is important. On the other hand, motorists in this country have serious indiscipline issues. I have in mind people who drive on pavements despite the penalties that have been imposed. We need this law to provide for serious penalties for misusing the proposed emergency service lanes, so that designated emergency lanes can be used for that purpose. I support. 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."
}