Residents in Msuka area of Chasefu District in the Eastern Province have bemoaned lack of social amenities needed to facilitate development in the area such as a clinic.
Residents have also bemoaned the poor state of Msuka Primary School, lack of Food Reserve Agency (FRA) market and poor road network among other developmental projects.
Speaking on behalf of other residents in the area, Cephas Banda of Chimenya village said there is need to prioritise the construction of a health facility to enable people access health services at their doorstep.
Mr Banda said lack of a health facility in the area forces people to cover long distances to the nearest Malandula Rural Health Centre to access health services.
He lamented that despite several appeals to construct the facility from way back in 2015, nothing has materialised.
“We started in 2015 appealing for a health facility, politicians and government officials have been promising but nothing is happening. We spend K250 to transport pregnant women to Malandula clinic to access health services,” he said.
Mr Banda is also saddened that Msuka Primary school which became operational in 1966 has remained undeveloped with old and falling apart infrastructure, including staff houses.
He further said that there was a need to refurbish the school and construct a modern 1×3 classroom block with two staff houses so that the school can be upgraded to a junior secondary level.
Mr. Banda further observed that farmers also incur losses as they spend a lot of money to transport their farm produce to Egichiken FRA shed for the market.
“Owing to lack of market, as farmers last year we were spending K50 per bag of maize to transport our produce to Egichiken FRA shed to access the market and remained K100 which is a loss to us,” Mr. Banda said.
He has appealed to the government to put up a temporary mobile market at Msuka central where farmers could sell their farm produce as they await for the storage Shed to be constructed.
Mr. Banda highlighted the developmental challenges when Chasefu District Commissioner, Lufeyo Ngoma toured Musuku area to familiarise and appreciate community concerns.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ngoma has advised residents to apply for Constituency Development Fund (CDF) through the Ward Development Committee (WDC) for the projects they want to undertake in the area.
The District Commissioner has however advised WDC members to engage the Community on the priority projects they want to implement.
“My advice to you WDC members is that you must always engage community members when selecting and applying for the projects you want to undertake,” Mr. Ngoma said.
And in a vote of thanks, Chief Magodi’s Induna Zinawose, Saiwell Mkandawire advised the community members to unite and contribute 25% community upfront towards the construction of a health facility.
The Induna also assured the District Commissioner that the community stands ready to construct a storage shed where FRA can be buying farm produce from the farmers.
EVERY VILLAGE CANNOT BE CATERED FOR ?
AS THEY SPRING UP EVERYWHERE WITH NO FORESIGHT OR PLANING