State house Permanent Secretary for Special duties, Patrick Mucheleke says Government is committed to fast-tracking developmental agendas in rural areas.
Mr Mucheleka said this is being done through proper planning, resource allocation and provision of human resource service.
He said this can be evidenced by the increased amount of Constituency Development Fund, CDF to 25.6 million Kwacha to 1.6 million Kwacha and the deployment of over 40 thousand Government workers among other programs.
Mr Mucheleka urgent civil servants to be instrumental in disseminating information about the various Government programs to the general public in their respective areas of work and to also work and support the policies of the New Dawn Government.
Mr Mucheleka was speaking yesterday in Lusangazi districts of Eastern Province where he interacted with Government workers during his familiarisation tour to the area.
He adds that Government is making strides to develop the nation through proper planning without leaving anyone behind.
” We are working hard to bring development to areas like this one because we understand the challenged being faced by people around the communities but I can rest assure you that you are not alone, the new dawn Government is here to deliver to your expectations,” he said.
Mr Mucheleka said Government workers at both central and local Government must coordinate as they work and support the Government of the day and also when implementing CDF projects.
He urged those involved in planning for the development of the district to see to it that part of the CDF is used to attend to most critical areas of development in infrastructure such as the road Network.
The PS stressed the need for Government to work on the over 70 Kilometer stretch of the Chilongozi road from Petauke to Lusangazi, which is in a deplorable state and also construct a Bridge on Lusangazi River, situated of the same main road, which becomes flooded in the rain season resulting in residents being cut off from the rest.
He adds that the provision of safe water and construction of Secondary and Boarding schools with teachers accommodation is also key in Lusangazi.
” This place needs good roads, bridges, clean water, secondary and boarding schools and also other infrastructure developments among other developmental projects so it is your duty as government workers to put politics aside and help this government in planning well for development to be attained,” he said.
Mr Mucheleka mentioned other programs achieved by the Government as the continuation of the Social Cash Transfer fund with an increased transfer value of K800 for the disabled and K400 for able bodied and also the Farmer Input Support Program (FISP).
He adds that farmers will now receive their subsidized farming inputs on time in order to prepare well for the 2022/2023 farming season.
Earlier, Lusangazi District Commissioner Mike Tembo mentioned some challenges being faced by people in the area being among the new districts in the country.
He mentioned the deplorable state of the Petauke _ Chilongozi road and other feeder roads in the area, shortage of water points, establishment and confirmation of Government workers as most the workers in Lusangazi are still acting on their positions without being confirmed since the district was declared in 2018.
” We are happy that you have visited as here in Lusangazi as you can see it’s a new district and the road in itself is not in good shape, we need a Bridge on Lusangazi River situated on the main road from Petauke to this place because it gets flooded when it rains, water is also a problem and most of our officers are for a long time still acting on these positions without being confirmed so we need establishment ,” he said.
And in response, Mr Mucheleka said he took note of the issue of confirmation and establishment of Government workers in Lusangazi district.
