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{
    "id": 93272,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/93272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 173,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Musyimi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 95,
        "legal_name": "Mutava Musyimi",
        "slug": "mutava-musyimi"
    },
    "content": "Before I read out the Committeeâs recommendations, I would like to make the following observations. I should not take too long. It is quite obvious that we need an irrigation and drainage policy, which is lacking. There are also clearly declining water resources due to catchment degradation in our country, a problem which we are seeing across the country. There is increased pollution of water sources, high operation and maintenance costs for water services and very low investment in water storage. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, hon. Obure talked about the need to invest more in water. I want to tell this House that one of the costs we have paid in having the unaffordable Government that we have today, of all these Ministers and Assistant Ministers--- That is not sour grapes. The fact is that the Government is too big. The price we are paying, as Kenyans, for making sure that we are all in Cabinet and elsewhere, is that there is not enough money to go round and give services to our people. So, this low investment in water storage is, unfortunately, one of the prices we have to pay for the size of Government that we have. We are glad that there is a new Constitution. We look forward to having a Government we can afford in future â one that is smaller and more efficient. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also took note of late Exchequer releases. This may be a liquidity issue, again, due to the challenges of running the kind of Government we are running. There is the issue of long processes of implementing projects, especially under donor funding. There is a very high cost of the environment impact assessment licences. Many of our people are complaining. Obviously, there are also the issues of encroachment on public land, low funding and inadequate capacity all round. We further noted, as a Committee, that service delivery in the various districts needs to be better rationalised. We also noticed that it was necessary for the Ministry to involve more stakeholders in the way it prepares its budget. We also noted that the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation has a pending bill of Kshs549 million, arising out of a fire incident that gutted down all the corporationâs records in September, 2009. Of course, this led to many fraudulent claims, and that matter is yet to be put to rest. We look forward to seeing that matter concluded as soon as possible. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also note that maintenance costs are becoming very high. The absorption capacity of the Ministry has also been affected negatively by delays in Exchequer releases and delays in release of funds by donors. We, therefore, wish to take this opportunity to also observe that the Ministry of Finance is not expediting the release of Exchequer issues not just for this Ministry but also for other Ministries under our charge. We, therefore, wish to recommend that this Ministry should expedite the investigations and subject them to forensic audit with regard to the huge amount of the pending bills at the National Water Conservation and Pipeline Corporation, as I mentioned, of Kshs549 million. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also wish to recommend that this Ministry should set the criteria for selection of districts in resource allocation. The Ministry needs to address the issue of water access and shortage, especially in our small towns and other urban areas, which appear to be dominated by water vendors, who provide water services whose quality cannot be guaranteed. My Committee is agreeable to the proposals by the Minister for Water and Irrigation, and recommends that a sum not exceeding Kshs3,779,939,100 be allocated to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Vote 20, for Recurrent Expenditure, and Kshs20,102,793,800 for Development Expenditure, as posted in the Heads under Vote 20. We further recommend that the Ministry be allowed to raise Appropriations-In-Aid (A-In-A) amounting to Kshs1,889,459,596 under the Recurrent Vote, and Kshs12,873,277 from development partners to finance its operations. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I wish to thank the Office of the Speaker, and the Office of the Clerk of the National Assembly, and all the other staff who helped us to do this work as quickly as we were able to do it. I believe that we were the second Departmental Committee to table the Budget scrutiny Reports. May I also take this opportunity to thank all the Members of my Committee for their patience, sacrifice, endurance and hard work during the long sitting hours and tight schedules, which enabled us to complete our tasks within the stipulated time. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, it is my pleasant duty to, on behalf of the Departmental Committee on Lands and Natural Resources, to present and recommend this Report to this House, pursuant to the provisions of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly. I beg to support."
}

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