GET /api/v0.1/hansard/entries/959568/?format=api
HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 959568,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/959568/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 338,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "When driving into Nakuru, back in the days - I am not certain whether it is still there – the highway used to be lined with trees. I still see a little bit of them, but with the expansion of the road, probably those trees have disappeared. We need to bring discipline back to our infrastructure projects. Through this Motion, we need to make it mandatory that those people in public works or in charge of the grand infrastructure projects, will also have an environmental concern as they execute them. Madam Temporary Speaker, the statistics look bleak indeed that the current forest cover in Kenya is only 7.4 per cent and the recommended average is 10 per cent. If you look at the close canopy forest in this Republic, it stands at two per cent. The African average is about 9.3 per cent, whereas the global average is far much higher. It is these forests that provide us with the water that we drink and clean air that we breathe. It is many trees that the pioneers and visionaries, particularly in the coastal region, planted that provide us with medicine and medicinal extracts that can lead us into the future. There was a taskforce that was set up. It was called “Taskforce on Forest Resources Management and Logging Activities.” This taskforce reported back in the year 2018 to the Executive. They came up with a very detailed report on what this country needs to do when it comes to forest resource management, particular more specifically issues of logging in our forests. It needs to be made clear to this nation what became of the recommendations of that taskforce because it came up with very good recommendations, particularly on transformation and reforms within the Kenya Forest Service (KFS). When KFS was established, there was a lot of expectation. We believed that it would follow the footsteps of Kenya Wildlife Service, which had played an important role during some period in ensuring that Kenya’s wildlife resources were protected, and it was promoted to make Kenya an attraction for people who came for wildlife tourism. However, KFS has fallen short of the great expectations of this Republic. When they are in the news, they are there for the wrong reasons or because the Director-General has decided to open a cafe in Karura Forest, as if people who go to forests do not need to eat something. We need to get the right information on coverage and proper brand for KFS. When we talk about them, they should be telling us what exactly they are doing to increase the current forest cover from the 7.4 per cent to the 10 per cent, which is the target. There are many forest reserves and protected areas in this Republic that are thinning out and balding because there is deliberate effort to re-afforestate them. This was a duty that we had given to KFS. Madam Temporary Speaker, sometimes we might need to learn from the past and present. Just a few minutes ago, the Senator for Mombasa County and I were having a conversation around the issue of the Kenya Fisheries Services; another body that we created as Parliament. We created it believing it would do what KWS has done to wildlife and what KFS is supposed to do to forest resources. Interestingly, we have Kenya Fisheries Service that is supposed to look at Kenya’s fisheries resources, which is domiciled in Lake Victoria, Indian Ocean and Turkana. The headquarters of Kenya Fisheries Service is in Nairobi. To be more precise, I am told it will be built in South C. you wonder what kind of fishing activities go on in 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."
}