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{
    "id": 800742,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/800742/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 302,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "floods have caused ravages in this country. One of the reasons we got into this cycle is because we have unsustainably destroyed our own forest cover in some of these towers. Areas that are targeted are Cherengany Hills in Mount Elgon and later on covering other areas like the ecosystems in Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana. This will affect Bungoma, Turkana, Elgeyo-Marakwet, Kakamega, Kisumu, Nandi, Siaya, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Vihiga and West Pokot counties. I hope that other than sustaining the ecosystems and forest cover, we will also retain and conserve the amount of water that is wasted and causing a lot of damage and flooding the roads making them impassable. The third element that gives rise to this amendment is the Kenya Urban Support Project (KUSP). This is an important grant. One time when I was the Minister for Local Government, the KUSP is the one that did most of the infrastructural development within Nairobi City, parts of it in Mombasa, Malindi, Kakamega, Nyeri and other places. These funds that are being given by the World Bank, if properly utilised, can change the landscape of our network system, particularly with the new development of the new urban agenda which has quite an array of activities that need to be done. First, it is the question of proper planning for urban centres so that they do not become sprawls of slums. If we are not careful, we will slowly develop most of our urban centers into slum areas. As far as I know, slums cannot produce or add up to any economic development of any nation. They retard and pull you back. Therefore, the New Urban Agenda has an ambitious plan of planning, particularly spatial planning and ensuring that urban centres are orderly and properly planned; the infrastructure and the value of the land is properly planned. This will ensure that at the end of the day, the land appreciates. Where there is good planning, you are able to attract the investment for this New Urban Agenda programmes. There will be many more resources flowing. When I looked at the international basket when we were in New York to negotiate a New Urban Agenda finally at the General Assembly, one of the things that struck me is that the resource flow to this basket will be far greater than the small grants we are looking for in the name of conditional grants. This is because they have a potential of investments and people want to invest where they think they can have high returns. I think Africa, and Kenya for that matter, has a potential of attracting most of our investors to most urban centres in our rural areas. I have a major problem with the question of universal healthcare. I started this programme as the Minister for Health. There are 13 stages through which we must go and we had only done three in the final development of this universal healthcare. It will cut out with a major emphasis on promotive health rather than curative health. What you see today, the balance is the other way round. There are more people seeking curative services rather than promotive and preventive services. If we had embarked and invested heavily on our promotive and preventive services, we would have cleared all immunizations and other non-communicable and communicable diseases. At one stage, we were able to clear measles which was a big scourge and the simple programmes of diarrhoea and vomiting in our children, which was a major outpatient attendance by all our people. 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."
}