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{
    "id": 831542,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/831542/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 300,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Olekina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 407,
        "legal_name": "Ledama Olekina",
        "slug": "ledama-olekina"
    },
    "content": "to leave the county government to develop the frontage of their building or they are going to incorporate public private partnership where they build, develop their frontage and use it for the parking of the shoppers who are coming to shop in their premises? This will empower the owners of these buildings because they will know that they have been given the regulations to construct the frontage and from there, they can choose to go green. They can decide to designate an area for, say, 20 people who will come with bicycles as well as those who will come with motorcycles and private vehicles. It is sad that many people in this country have businesses that do not make profit. One might have the best designer suits or pharmacy but the fact that they do not have a parking area where one can easily park their cars, get into a shop, buy and walk away, that denies them that business. When I was thinking about this Bill, I looked at the other jurisdictions and other countries and how they handle the issue of pavements and parking. In some states in America, the owner of the building is given a distance of about three metres that they are to maintain and the regulations. They are expected to mark the parking slots and anyone who parks there does not have to pay anything though they are in partnership with the town council. However, we still have other buildings where one still pays the town councils when they park there. This Bill is a win-win for all of us. It is a win-win for the business community and county governments. The county governments can budget to have 50 per cent of all their parking spaces generate revenue. This is a time when we are crying and the county governments are also crying. There is a debate where people are saying that we should merge some counties because of lack of creativity. This Bill brings another creative element to support these counties to continue generating revenue. There are so many counties that are talking of converting urban areas to municipalities without thinking further. The Act that regulates the formation of municipality is clear. You have to demonstrate that you can raise local revenue. Most of the counties in this country are not able to demonstrate that. We also know that there is a lot of money allocated for urban planning by the World Bank. We plan for these urban centres but we do not have a law in place to clearly guide us. For instance, if the World Bank gave us Kshs300 million or more to plan Narok Town, we do not have a law that can guide us to build courts, designate parking areas or pavements. In fact, this Bill will help towns that do not have designated parking areas to negotiate with the people. I am happy with what I am seeing in the City County of Nairobi. For example, across the Parliament Buildings, people are no longer building commercial spaces to lease out. They are investing in building parking spaces. If we do so, it will only be right if we follow the law and have clear regulations so that we also empower devolution. Madam Temporary Speaker, many of our Bills only focus on the interests of the national Government. When will we focus on the interests of the county governments? The Constitution is clear. Earlier on, I referred to Article 174 of the Constitution that promotes the goals of devolution in social and economic development. I also looked at the Fourth Schedule in terms of the shared duties between the national Government and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}