Dr. James Nyikal

All parliamentary appearances

Entries 2001 to 2010 of 3161.

• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: I also support this Bill because it aligns the functions of roads with the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution. This is an extremely important issue. It has caused a lot of problems in the area of roads and health. Clauses 3 and 4 of the Bill have taken good care of the need to abide with the Constitution. This is based on the cooperation of county governments and the national Government, which is a major prerequisite for the success of a devolved Government. The involvement of all other stakeholders has been taken care of very well. view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: I further support this Bill because once we promulgated the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, it was imperative that some of the laws that we had would change. This Bill takes that into consideration. It amends the Kenya Roads Board Act and seeks to repeal the Kenya Roads Act. These are extremely important. Some of the problems we have had in devolution like allocation of funds and perennial contest between county governments and the national Government are basically because of lack of clarity of functions. This Bill has made good attempts to do that in the road sector. view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: The classification of roads has further enhanced clarity of functions. I like how the classification has been done because there is flexibility. It is not that once the roads are classified, they remain so. If you look at the appropriate clause in the Bill, it gives the CS authority to classify or reclassify a road as appropriate after it is constructed. That is extremely important. Dividing roads through this classification for county and national functions is important. view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: It may not be the mandate of this Bill, but county governments need to increase the capacity of their departments which deal with roads. We need to look at what has been going on in the construction of roads. There are very big differences in the funds that are used in the construction of roads, particularly between the roads which are constructed by county governments and the ones that are constructed by the national Government. There are transition clauses in this Bill, but an organisation like KeRRA has sufficient capacity. There is need to see how that capacity can be ... view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: This Bill has developed clear criteria on standards. This is very important and necessary. There are national roads and bridges, standards and oversight in the Bill. Members have indicated here that roads are constructed and within a year or two, they have potholes all over. Drainage is poor and the roads can hardly be used after a short time after construction. Laying the standards clearly is important. I hope these standards will be adhered to. We are aware that checking and maintaining the standards are the functions of the national Government. So, it is important to have adequate cooperation between ... view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: When we are improving our infrastructure, particularly roads, we tend to think that the only people who use roads are motorists. There are many other people who use roads. Pedestrians use roads and amongst them, there are people living with disabilities. It is time our roads conform to international standards particularly in relation to persons living with disabilities. I have travelled in other countries and this is the only country where public transport vehicles stop anytime and anywhere. There is no clear indication where there is a bus stop. If we develop these arrangements where we have proper bus stops, ... view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: There are laws relating to standards that we should have which can support people living with disabilities. There are regulations, but they are not adhered to. We should make sure we have platforms to address the issue of people living with disabilities. Public transport vehicles should be made in such a way that people living with disabilities need not to be carried. It can be done. Those of us who have travelled in other countries know that it can be done. We know that cyclists and motorcyclists are the biggest culprits of fatalities, if not accidents, because there are no ... view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: I support the Bill further because it has put in place structures. It has developed two Authorities, namely, KeNHA and KeNSRA. They will have clear mandate to look at the roads and make sure that standards and processes are adhered to. I hope we will have better roads with the establishment of these Authorities. It is important for the Bill to provide proper financing mechanisms for the Authorities. That is an important point which we need to look at. Acquisition of land when roads are being done has been a very thorny issue. It is looked into in this Bill ... view
• 23 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: The CS has been given excess powers particularly in inventory of roads and power over the Authorities. We will look at that when we get to the Committee stage. The responsibilities of county governments have been clearly set out in Part IV of the Bill. view
• 15 Jun 2016 in National Assembly: On a point of order, Hon. Speaker. view