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{
    "id": 998589,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/998589/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 1539,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Saboti, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Caleb Luyai",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2740,
        "legal_name": "Caleb Amisi Luyai",
        "slug": "caleb-amisi-luyai"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker, for granting me this opportunity to add my voice. First, I thank the Committee for working very hard at this unprecedented time to deliver this Report. I support this Report but with caution. On matters transport, I would like to say that one of the catalysts for economic development for a country such as Kenya that depends on agriculture and tourism is to support infrastructure and road networks. As we talk about the Big Four Agenda on manufacture or local production, emphasis must be on a proper plan on how we can develop the overall infrastructure of this country so that we do not have a skewered road network or allocation of funds to different regions probably for political reasons or otherwise. Saboti Constituency is often referred as the bread basket of Kenya but how does this bread reach the rest of the country if there is no infrastructure? This is a constituency in the whole Republic of Kenya that does not have any road that is upgraded to bitumen standard. All the tarmac roads surround it but there is no through way. Had we considered major highways that pass through the constituency, for example we would have Turbo, Tongaren past Kiminini through Saboti Constituency and finally Endebess. That is a highway that can open an entire region consisting of almost five constituencies. This focus of constructing roads is because all that people need to have their produce to the markets is passable roads. We recognise the fact that we do not have the required resources to have all the road networks in the country but all we need is to make the roads passable, whether they are upgraded to bitumen standard or not. During the rainy season, roads become impassable in the areas that we come from. It is a big paradox that I spend millions of shillings from my pocket to take food to an area that is supposed to be the bread basket of the Republic of Kenya simply because we have not empowered it in terms of infrastructure to enable it produce this food. Going forward, we must realign our infrastructure funds to the economic capacity of that particular area. If you go to my constituency or even the neighbouring constituencies that I have mentioned, you will find perennially whenever there is a rainy season, people plant banana stems on the road and they do so well such that the entire road is converted into banana plantation. So, the whole concept of road network in this country must be relooked at. We should ensure that at least every road in the interior is first and foremost passable before we talk about upgrading them and the highways."
}