By Brenda Nkosi
Thyolo, April 20, Mana: A meeting of the Full Council for Thyolo has today challenged political leaders to move away from sharing funds equally in construction projects to concentrating on constructing durable one.
This came about when the house approved the 2023-2030 Social-Economic Profile (SEP) where it states that the council will move away from constructing timber deck bridges to concrete deck ones to construct strong and long lasting structures.
Councillor for Muonekela Ward, Crespo Likwezembe called on the house to be mindful that passing of the 2023-2023 SEP means moving away from how the house has been allocating projects.
“It is us councillors and legislators who call for timber deck bridges in this house so that funds are enough. By approving the concrete bridges, we are in a way agreeing that we will be going for strong bridges and structures in general moving forward,” said Likwezembe.
Member of Parliament for Thyolo South Constituency, Mavuto Scott admitted that it will be a challenge for the house to stick to the approved SEP, saying projects try to resolve immediate problems.
“This is going to be very tricky because when we are doing these timber deck bridges we look at the number and need for bridges. We go for these because they enable us construct many of them than concrete deck bridges.
Presenting the Socio-Economic Profile to the house, Chairperson for the Development Committee, Councillor George Jailosi said the profile provides a current situation of development of the district and provides a basis for the formulation of the District Development Plan (DPP).
The approved development issues are food insecurity, high illiteracy rate, poor access to portable water, poor road network, high morbidity and mortality rate, high unemployment rate among youths, high malnutrition rate and high risks of disasters, environmental degradation and climate change.
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