By Wanangwa Tembo

Kasungu, April 25, Mana: Director of Planning and Development for Kasungu District Council, Annie Zimba, has challenged supervisors of the Climate Smart Public Works Programme (CSPWP) to ensure that conservation works being done meet expected standards.

She made the call in Kasungu on Tuesday during an orientation of Designated Desk Officers (DDOs) that will supervise the programme activities in the district’s four newly established conservation catchments.

Zimba said there are huge sums of money being injected into the programme activities hence the need for the supervisors to ensure that the assets being created as part of the conservation activities reflect the investment made.

“We don’t expect to see any shoddy work in the catchments. As DDOs, you must be on top of things ensuring that we deliver quality work.

There must be value for the money that is invested in the programme. So we should not see a casual way of doing things that will reflect badly on the council,” she said.

Zimba said the increase in the number of the programme participants should also translate in more conservation works to restore the district’s degraded landscapes.

Kasungu district is enlisting 7.730 additional participants following the establishment of new catchments, increasing the district’s total participants from 15,802 to 23,532.

Speaking on behalf of the DDOs, Area Extension and Development Officer for Santhe Extension Planning Area, Time Natani said the orientation will help to equip the field staff with vital knowledge that would assist them to make the programme successful.

He said: “We are very ready for the show. The new catchments are big and will require our total dedication to duty. This is work that we must take seriously because the conservation assets that we are creating will not only help us today, but also the generations that are coming.

“We can learn from the other catchments where already there has been massive restoration of forests resulting in reduced runoff in agricultural land and increased infiltration of water which has helped to improve the water table and reduce soil erosion.”

As part of the programme activities, participants are involved in creating assets such as soak pits, marker ridges, gully reclamation and planting vegetative cover to reduce runoff and encourage infiltration of water to retain moisture in the soil.

CSPWP is a component of the Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme which is funded by the World Bank and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund.