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"id": 94160,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/94160/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Duale",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Livestock Development",
"speaker": {
"id": 15,
"legal_name": "Aden Bare Duale",
"slug": "aden-duale"
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"content": " Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I want to support this Motion both as the Member for Dujis and very remotely as an Assistant Minister. I want to thank Mr. Chachu for bringing this Motion which is very timely. It is asking us to introduce policy and legislation in order to provide standards in controlling emission and air pollution. I want to say very categorically that, in my opinion, clean air is a public good. It is a public good that no other resource exhibits the same level of being public. Why do I say so? If I compare air with other resources, for example, land. Land can be parceled and fenced. Even water as a resource can be boiled for safety purposes. You can even hide your own scenery. You can also isolate yourself from noise pollution. But man or humanity has no choice but to breathe the air around them. That gives me the argument that clean air is a public good. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we all know that air pollution can give us as a challenge. In terms of health, we have evidence that respiratory diseases, eye diseases, lung cancer among the elderly and the young in this country are in one way or another related to air pollution. Look at the ecosystem and the kind of damage air pollution does to our vegetation and crops. There is the so called acid rain that affects soil fertility. Acid rain is a product of air pollution. Thirdly, we have the smog that affects the visibility that even compromises air safety and standards. Above all, the worst that air pollution does is the famous global warming that affects the existence of human lives and that led to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 where 100 countries met and said they must do something about emissions. So, what Mr. Chachu has brought, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, is what is happening in the global arena; it is what is happening in Europe, America and Asia. That is why in 2002, the EU adopted what they call the Six Environmental Action Progamme. They felt that governments and other stakeholders must have standards and policies which must regulate not only their individual countries, but also regional areas. So, these standards and policies must include, in my opinion, comprehensive environmental analysis. It is very key! We must ask ourselves: How do we have those programmes, problems, options and solutions for those environmental issues? In one country, it might be different from another and region. For me, we cannot talk about the East Africa Community (EAC) integration when we do not have complete environmental policy standards and legislations. We must have cost-benefit analysis and proposals for legislations in this country. That is why we feel that this air pollution environmental policy guideline by Mr. Chachu is timely. We must involve the civil society, industry players, NGOs and governments as custodians of legislation and policy everywhere. Air pollution guidelines, in my opinion, hinges on the following parameters:- One, regulations on specific source and fuel quality. We must find out the source of our fuel. We must find out the quality of the fuel. We must have national emission ceilings of certain air pollutants. Globally, there are ceilings but, as a country, we must have emission ceilings. More so, as a leader and hon. Member, I think it is the citizensâ right to know about air pollution. It is the citizensâ right and duty to be told about emissions. It is the citizensâ right to know air quality and its effect. This is, again, a public issue and that is why, through legislation and policy guidelines, our people can be educated. We have talked about the Mau and the climate change policy. We must, as a country--- I am sure this Motion provides us with an avenue. We must have a link between air pollution policy and climate change policy. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, countries that have faced air pollution; countries that have felt, because of air pollution, they must come up with policies and regulations include Thailand, China, Egypt in Africa, UK in Europe, Los Angeles in the USA and Sao Paolo in Brazil. Those are cities that have faced this challenge and those governments felt that they must do something about it. I think Nairobi is not far from what we see in Cairo. Urban air pollution is a major threat in Kenya. A solution must be found. Urban air pollution is as a result of one sector - the transport sector - which is the main source of urban air pollution in most cities in the world, including our own. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that urban air pollution is responsible for 800,000 deaths per year, globally. You can imagine that many of our people who walk in the streets of Nairobi, the middle class and the poor peasants, will be among the 800,000 deaths that are caused by air pollution. Of those 800,000 deaths, according to the WHO, 85 per cent is in the developing countries like Kenya. What are the sources of air pollution? Again, we go back to the road transport which is the major environmental pollutant. What happens? In this country, because of the poverty level, we have ageing vehicles â very old vehicles â on the road. We have the so-called importation of sub-standard used vehicle technology. We have the so-called eight year rule and we use a lot of low quality fuel. How do we address those negative effects of the road transport sector? It is a challenge and that is why today I felt that I should come and contribute to this Motion. We must find a way to address the negative effects of the road transport sector. So far, as a country, we have a policy of having unleaded fuel. As a country, again, we have a nil fuel quality standards. As a country, we have introduced restrictions on the importation of used vehicles. But my challenge to the Government and to this House is this: In terms of policy and legislation, very little has been received on how to control that. Again, in terms of compliance and enforcement, it is a big challenge. How do we enforce, for example, the restriction on the importation? As we sit here today, the old vehicles are still coming through the Port of Mombasa. As we sit here today, we have the mushrooming of the independent petrol stations that are selling low quality adulterated fuel. This Motion calls for the creation of a policy and the enactment of the necessary legislation and, in my opinion, if we have both, then the issue of compliance comes in. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}