By Willy Kadewere & Leah Malimbasa

Chikwawa, July 9, Mana: Minister of Water and Sanitation, Abida Mia, has commended Chikwawa District Council for being exemplary in management and implementation of Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) projects, which supplements the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) financing arrangement.

She was speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the district’s 2023-2024 GESD projects at Matsukambiya Village in Traditional Authority (TA) Ngabu in Chikwawa.

Mia, who is also Member of Parliament for Chikwawa Nkombezi, commended the District Commissioner and council staff for their prudent use of GESD funds.

“I’m pleased with the council’s collective achievements; our teamwork has significantly contributed to the district’s positive outcomes in the recent Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA),” she said.

During the event, Mia also officially launched construction of a new health post under GESD project at Matsukambiya Village which is expected to serve over 15,000 residents from surrounding communities.

District Commissioner for Chikwawa, Nardin Kamba, expressed satisfaction with the district’s performance as reflected in the LAPA results, which secured funds for the 2023-2024 GESD projects.

Kamba emphasized the importance of integrity in project execution, urging building contractors to refrain from corrupt practices that compromise the quality of infrastructure.

“I would like to urge contractors to uphold integrity, our community deserves quality projects, free from corruption,” Kamba said.

The construction of Matsukambiya Health Post, with an estimated budget of K1.6 million commenced on Tuesday and is scheduled for completion by September this year.

Apart from Matsukambiya Health Post, the district will also build Bereu and complete Tizola maternity wings, Mapelera Primary Education Advisor’s house, two staff houses for Nsangwe Health Centre, Gola CDSS classroom block, renovation of Nambesa Primary School classroom block, Nkhate and Kanzimbi health posts, Nkhwangwa and Ndakwera CDSS classroom blocks, among other projects.