By Damiano Thengo

Nkhotakota, April 11, Mana: Nkhotakota South Constituency Member of Parliament (MP) Brainex Kaisi has called on community members in Nkhotakota to show their commitment and responsibility when development projects are being implemented, saying this could assist in the construction of high-standard infrastructures in the district.

Speaking during a handover ceremony of a contractor who will construct a health post at Senior Group Village Headman Bamba headquarters in the area of Traditional Authority Nkhanga in the district, Kaisi said misconduct or misusing resources meant for developmental projects always leads to the construction of substandard and short-lasting pieces of infrastructure.

He further asked contractors to comply with project conditions and work hand in hand with the village committees that will be monitoring the project in order to satisfy the standards of the project.

"People should not fear the government or parliamentarian, but they should fear themselves that when they steal construction materials, they are going to construct substandard facilities, and in future, they will still cough out a lot of money for maintenance and rehabilitation," said Kaisi.

In her remarks, Traditional Authority Nkhanga commended government for the medical initiative, saying this will reduce the long distances that people in the area used to cover to receive medical treatment.

She further asked government through lawmakers and the Embassy of Iceland to consider constructing a secondary school in the area since children are currently covering 15 kilometres to access secondary school education, which leads to an increase in school dropout among learners.

Government of Iceland has pumped in over K1.2 billion for the health posts under the Nkhotakota basic service project, which will be used to build two health posts in the district within six months at Chinkhwamba and Bamba in Senior Chief Mwadzama and in Traditional Authority Nkhanga, respectively.