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{
    "id": 811358,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/811358/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 143,
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    "content": "laws that were existing before the advent of the new Constitution should be amended so that they can be in conformity with the Constitution. The country has been going through a process of amending these laws and realigning them to the new constitutional order. Finally, we have reached a stage where it is necessary to amend the Kenya Roads Bill so that it can be in conformity with the Constitution. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I was the Chair of the Devolution and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, I had an important responsibility to guide this is House in so far as transfer of functions is concerned. This House did a lot of work. In that Report, we said that the Kenya Roads Bill and the roads laws must be amended so that we can have proper classification of roads. Even then, we retained Class A up to C to national Government and transferred Class D and below to county governments. However, there was lacking a clear definition of what is a Class A, B, C, D, E and F road. This Bill provides the classification of those roads. Also, there has been debate about the resources that are meant to go with the function. Once the function has been devolved, are there necessary resources that are supposed to follow those functions? Again, this Bill provides for the manner in which, apart from Division of Revenue law, the roads levy is divided among various agencies of national and county governments. That is for the purpose of building and maintaining those roads through those resources. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Bill is critical. I am glad that you have agreed that we expedite this Bill. In Part Two of the Bill, there is a new established institution known as the Public Roads Standards Board (PRSB). I saw one friend of mine writing on social media and questioning why it is not possible for us to sue roads authorities when you have an accident because you hit a pothole. Many people are killed because of useless potholes on the roads that are not maintained for a long period of time. Sometimes they are killed because there is no road signage. Sometimes it is because they put a bump on the road and they do not alert anybody. You travel in the morning through a road and by evening you realize that the road has a bump which is unmarked. It ends up causing accidents and killing people. I have in mind so many bumps that are in this country that have caused a lot of accidents including the one that is in Karai area near Naivasha town. This is in recognition of the requirements to have standards and proper roads. In the earlier Statement in this House that was brought by Sen. Khaniri, Members ventilated on the matter of the quality and standard of roads. I heard the Senator from Kiambu County, Sen. Mwaura - I am saying this because he had been labeled another time that he is from nowhere - although he is not elected in Kiambu, he is from there representing persons with special challenges. I heard his comments saying that we have beautiful roads like Thika Road and suddenly you realize that the drainage is not working or sometimes the roads are already damaged, and we are told we used Kshs30 billion. We have also been told that Kshs10 billion was used on Dongo Kundu Road which is 10 Kilometers or so. We used Kshs1 billion per kilometer. That is why it has become necessary to establish PRSB to ensure that as per this Bill, we have proper standards for construction of roads and those standards are going to be adhered to. The 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."
}