Govt urged to create more provinces

GOVERNMENT should create more provinces to enhance development and public services in all corners of the country, Former Transport and Communications Deputy Minister Alfred Ndhlovu has said.

Mr Ndhlovu said President Edgar Lungu should consider dividing some provinces for efficiency and effective service delivery.

He said some provinces had suffered underdevelopment due to vastness, making it difficult for effective service delivery.

Mr Ndhlovu said Copperbelt, Southern, Lusaka and Eastern Provinces should be dividing into two or three to enhance development.

“Eastern should be demarcated so that the Kacholola side can be another province, Southern Province should be divided into two provinces so that we can have East South and West South. One can have Livingstone area as provincial capital while the other one can have Mazabuka has provincial capital,”Mr Ndhlovu said.

He said proposed that Copperbelt should be divided into two so that Chingola and Ndola could provincial capital centres for each region.

Mr Ndhlovu said creation of more provinces would not only bring development but also create the much needed jobs .

The former Deputy Minister said Zambia was twice as bigger as France, while the UK was of the same size as Eastern province.

“Zambia is twice the geographical size of France while UK has the same geographical size as Eastern province nut these countries are more developed than Zambia because they have been properly demarcated,”Mr Ndhlovu said.

“Zambia is twice the geographical size of France while UK has the same geographical size as Eastern province nut these countries are more developed than Zambia because they have been properly demarcated,”

Mr Ndlovu said dividing provinces would enable people have easy access to services and spur development in all corners of the country.

He said Zambia had enough resources that can help sustain the running of new provinces.

“Creation of Muchinga has a province has come with a lot of development and this is what will happen when more provinces are created and people will have easy access to resources,”Mr Ndhlovu said.

And Mr Ndlovu said there is need for government to boost agriculture as the country’s major source of foreign exchange.

He said the country had enough land that was underutilized and can help grow the economy.