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{
    "id": 769129,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/769129/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "If we do not care for this, we are planning for failure. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us and particularly this House to enact enabling legislation to support the new urban agenda because that is the area of growth. It is the area of economic growth. It is the area of socialization. On the impacts of population, if you consider Nairobi for instance, when I was the Minister for Local Government, Kenyatta Avenue was in a total mess. In wanting to develop infrastructure in this city, we came up with greening and improving the cities. The fountain on that street is a testimony of what we did. I felt that the motorists who wait on traffic for long hours can have their nerves relaxed by the water fountain flowing. It could also relax their minds so as not to get very desperate on the road and cause accidents. They did re-servicing of Kenyatta Avenue. Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi, Malindi and Busia were also done at that time. I am sorry to say that when I go around these areas, they have gone back to zero. At that time, we created the Kenya Urban Development Infrastructure Programme (KUDIP) which was supported by the World Bank. The World Bank was willing to support it because they saw that it was an area of improving the poverty levels of people. Any development that must be carried out must ensure that it addresses the needs of the poor. It must be all inclusive. It is not just for the rich to enjoy the benefits accruing from the growth of the economy. It is for everybody. What does that mean? The economic growth must take into account the social elements that encompass that growth. This Policy Paper captures some of these elements. At some later stage, we shall address ourselves to the slum upgrading system because this is one of the eyesores in most of our developments. We are a bit lucky in Kenya because the 47 counties give us a fulcrum upon which we can predicate our own developments more securely. Proper planning would attract a lot of investments to our counties and make our counties richer instead of depending on the GDP or 60 per cent from Nairobi alone. There is no reason as to why Embu, Tharaka-Nithi, Kisii, Nyamira and Kisumu counties cannot generate a GDP well above the normal GDP that Nairobi generates. That would have enhanced the GDP of Kenya’s productivity to a much higher level and the people will enjoy the wealth of this nation in abundance. What are these social elements that impact that planning? We must take into account the population growth and the population trends. You must take into account the social services that you are going to offer in the planned area. These are things such as schools, hospitals, health centres, roads, infrastructure, energy and many other things. You may also consider the natural resources that are available within a given county. How do you maximize the use of those natural resources? The most important thing is creation of jobs. We are all crying that our youth are unemployed yet we have the potential and the capacity. If we do proper planning, we can make our counties very rich. The National Government has a moral duty to make sure that all this planning is inclusive and not just selective. It is important that we cling to these elements. The second element that we need to look at is environmental concerns. This is because we let our rivers become the dens of garbage. Garbage is sunk in those rivers, The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes"
}