{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144542","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144540","results":[{"id":1463602,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463602/?format=json","text_counter":515,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kabuchai, FORD-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Majimbo Kalasinga","speaker":null,"content":"Infrastructure is very key. Some of the farms and farmers are in the swampy areas. Farmers who plant cane in swampy areas are disadvantaged when the right harvesting time comes. For example, if you have planted cane in a swampy area and harvesting takes 18 months, and then you arrive at a date when it is raining, the cane will not be harvested until the dry spell. Let us have better infrastructure even in swampy areas so that it can become very easy. That way, when the cane matures, the farmers can benefit from it. It is also giving people who come from cane-planting regions nightmares. It is funny you are realising now that, instead of even millers upping the game in terms of the price of cane, they are reducing it. We are not going to agree, when the price of fertiliser is skyrocketing and fuel is increasing because tillage of land is done by tractors, you get a miller reducing the price. We are not going to think about that. If we do that, then a farmer will be frustrated, run out of play and then we shall start importing sugar into this country. We are not sure of the safety of the sugar that comes in. The sugar that is produced by us goes through a law called GRAS, which means Generally Regarded as Safe in terms of quality because we know our millers. On sugar that come into this country from other countries, we cannot assure our Kenyans about cancer-causing issues."},{"id":1463603,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463603/?format=json","text_counter":516,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kabuchai, FORD-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Majimbo Kalasinga","speaker":null,"content":"To be honest, let us support our farmers. Hon. Nabulindo has done his best to come up with the Motion. Without much ado, because we are friends who should also debate this, I, as the Member of Parliament for Kabuchai, a region that is rich in sugarcane production, with due respect and honour, I second this Motion."},{"id":1463604,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463604/?format=json","text_counter":517,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Kabuchai, FORD-K","speaker_title":"Hon. Majimbo Kalasinga","speaker":null,"content":"Thank you."},{"id":1463605,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463605/?format=json","text_counter":518,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":" Thank you."},{"id":1463606,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463606/?format=json","text_counter":519,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Several Members stood along the gangways)"},{"id":1463607,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463607/?format=json","text_counter":520,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":"May the Members who are standing take their seats because this is a bit long."},{"id":1463608,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463608/?format=json","text_counter":521,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Question proposed)"},{"id":1463609,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463609/?format=json","text_counter":522,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":"Hon. Geoffrey Odanga."},{"id":1463610,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463610/?format=json","text_counter":523,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Matayos, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Geoffrey Odanga","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I support this Motion as moved by Hon. Nabulindo. As he has already noted, sugarcane farming was the mainstay of many regions in the country, not only in the western region, but also in Nyanza and the Coast, which once had the Ramisi Sugar Factory. People were employed in those factories and farmers got a lot of income. They were able to meet their daily requirements like school fees, food and so on. That is not a crop that we should wish away. The sugar sector collapsed because the governments of the day were not keen. They were corrupt and greedy! They wanted to import sugar and sell at the expense of the sugar produced by our farmers."},{"id":1463611,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463611/?format=json","text_counter":524,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Matayos, ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Geoffrey Odanga","speaker":null,"content":"This Motion is about policy. The unfortunate thing is that in this country - and this has been said here very many times - we develop very good policies but, at the end of the day, they end up gathering dust in the shelves. From last week, I have noted that there are very many Motions in this House that are discussing policy. I think we need to shift and make those policies work. There is a Bill before this House, the Cotton Bill, which addresses quite a number of issues that will help the farmers. Hon. Nabulindo is saying that we need to develop a policy for sugarcane development. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."}]}