By George Mponda

Karonga, February 24, Mana: Deputy Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture, Joyce Chitsulo, has appealed to communities to desist from politicization of development projects saying it affects service delivery for Malawians.

Chitsulo made the remarks Sunday in Karonga when she inspected the newly constructed K146 million Mlare Maternity Wing in the area of Paramount Chief Kyungu in the district.

"While government is working hard to deliver quality services for Malawians, there are some individuals, including councillors and lawmakers, who are deliberately sabotaging government projects to gain political mileage.

“I have been inspecting various projects around the country and I came across cases whereby a three-month project took almost a year to be finished because some individuals were deliberately influencing the contractors to delay the projects to make government look like a failure," Chitsulo said.

She said Malawians deserve quality service delivery hence the need for chiefs and all stakeholders to step in and help monitor various development projects being implemented so that they can be finished on time.

"Mlare Martenity Wing constructed with Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) funds should be an example of infrastructure we want in our country if we want to improve health service delivery," she said.

Director of Health Services for Karonga, David Sibale, said the construction of the facility will help reduce long distance covered by pregnant women in accessing maternity services.

"We have 23 health facilities in Karonga. However, five maternal deaths are being recorded annually which is a very worrisome trend. Bringing these health facilities close to where people reside is essential in ensuring that mothers’ lives are not at risk when giving birth," Sibale said.