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{
    "id": 777272,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/777272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 233,
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    "content": "order to enhance the value of that land, attract better investments to that land and avoid the development of slums in a new upcoming city, we must do proper spatial planning. The infrastructure that we develop and the amenities that we create in any settlement scheme, whether formal or informal, must be such that the people who are staying there feel comfortable. Infrastructure like roads should not be in the sorry state that they are in today. The other day we had fires in Kijiji slums in Langata, in Kawangware and in Mathare and fire hoses could not reach there to quench the fires; people perished. It must be very clear on what we are planning for; there must be water. I remember when I was the Minister for Local Government; we had to enter into a program with the World Bank to provide simple piped water to informal settlements. This is because if we did not do that, the development of diseases and other vagaries of health would have made that slum uninhabitable. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, simple effective toilets can ameliorate the lives of the people. There should be schools and provision of properly connected electricity. I am not referring to those haphazard, dangerous and illegal connections which are the cause of many fires and disasters that we experience these times. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one of the major problems that we face in the informal settlements is solid waste management. Passing through slums then becomes a sordid affair. The stench that comes from there makes the informal settlements uninhabitable, considering that all these people staying there inhale it day in day out, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Therefore, the development of diseases is a major problem. It is no wonder then that when we are talking about climate change, we should know that this is not only contributed to by just one factor, but multiple factors. But for the purpose of this debate, I think it is important that we should put it that in anything we do, solid waste management must become one of the most important functions that must be implemented in these slum upgrading systems. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there should be creation of income generating activities. Do not just put people to sit there, only having a house. There must be some economic activity going on around that place that forms the vibrancy of that slum. Then, of course, the lending and micro-finance institutions must have their way into these informal settlements. We must also take care of the many other things that are preventable such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB), cholera and many such social diseases that are largely preventable in this kind of population. I will give the example of the Kibra Slum Upgrading Scheme. We were there when I was at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–Habitat) Kenya. Together with the Government of Kenya, we generated a policy and a support fund to ensure that the 900 units were developed there. One of the functions I did before we left was that they were opened up for habitation and they are actually very decent. However, we must maintain the people who have been moved from the slums and allocated those houses from going back there. That is why I am saying that we should create incentives within those slums that will give them a decent income so that they can stay there and be The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}