Government says a total 156 palaces will be constructed for traditional leaders in all the 156 constituencies across the country.
Local Government and Rural Development Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Nicholas Phiri says the current state of some of the existing structures is poor and that government plans to improve the status as part of its infrastructure development plan.
“This year we are going to construct 156 palaces for the Royal highnesses in all the 156 constituencies. My monitoring of Luapula province showed that there was poor supervision done on some of the structures” he said.
Speaking when he officiated at the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, annual workshop in Chongwe today, Mr. Phiri disclosed that a check on some chief’s palaces showed poor workmanship on the structures and challenged the Engineers present to use their expertise to help improve the infrastructure in their areas.
Mr. Phiri added that the increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is aimed at improving infrastructure in the country especially for the rural areas, which he said will help increase access to the market for small scale farmers.
The PS further urged the engineers to ensure quality work is delivered.
“This time around we are focusing on infrastructure development through the CDF. In addition we have an issue of rehabilitation and upgrading of road infrastructure. Very critical for rural development” he added.
He added that the rehabilitation of markets and bus stations are also a priority for government, in order to create an enabling environment for traders to conduct their businesses and contribute to driving the economy.
Mr. Phiri further challenged the engineers to come up with effective systems of solid waste management for areas being developed to avoid the solid waste challenges currently being faced in other developed areas.