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"content": "ensure, for example, that we deal with issues to do with urban agriculture because we are an agricultural economy. But the manner in which we are doing urban agriculture is questionable because we are not using clean water, but sewage water to provide the groceries for the big population that is in Nairobi currently. Mr. Speaker, Sir, we need to ensure that we increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our public transport. If you go to a country like Japan, Tokyo has got 24 million people who live and work there. The night population of Tokyo is 11 million. So, ideally, 13 million people commute every day. A population of about 24 million is actually a country like Austria, Hungary or Slovakia, which are small European countries with only 6 million or 7 million people. Those countries also teach us that it is really not about the population, because sometimes when I engage myself, there is always this misconception about the size of Africa. Africa is sometimes seen as this little county, but if you compare the size of Africa, it is actually the size of the whole of Europe, North America and India combined. So, yes, you are dealing with a very big land mass in terms of development. But at the same time, it has been very well demonstrated by small countries that you can actually use small populations to still run viable infrastructural projects that are transformational and which help the economy to grow. You do not need to go very far to see that; Rwanda is a very good example of a small African nation within the East African region which has been able to plan. Kigali City is very well planned; you will not find garbage or a lot of congestion there. Therefore, the best that we need to do is to ensure that we also deal with the issue of land. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe that this Senate will also pass the Land Use Index Act so that we regulate the cost of land especially in urban cities. This will enable us to create satellite cities that feed into the mainstream city. This is because part of the challenges of huge infrastructural projects that transform cities is as a result of the cost of land and compulsory acquisition, which is very expensive. I am even reminded that in the last Parliament, I presented a petition from some farmers from Kilelana, Mashundwani and other places in Lamu so that they could be compensated at that time. So, the acquisition of this land becomes a very big inhibition with regard to urban development. Mr. Speaker, Sir, I also need to comment about the manner in which we add aesthetics to our urban cities. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done with regard to how we construct our buildings, not just because of occupancy, but also in terms of how we train our Architects the way in which we build. As we all know, there is a huge housing deficit in this country, and I am very glad that the Jubilee Administration and His Excellency the President has committed himself, in partnership with the private sector, to prove 500,000 houses per year for the next five years. You will find that we are only concerned with the interiors of the buildings, but we leave buildings out there looking grotesque and, yet, they actually contribute to the aesthetics of a city. The painting is only done within but outside it is just open concrete; that is not something that people take seriously. We have been to other jurisdictions where the greatest touristic attractions are actually the art and architecture of certain iconic buildings and premises within certain cities. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}