Govt officials urged to engage public on key projects
HEADS of Government Departments in provinces have been urged to create a rapport with communities they serve so as to ensure the success of key Government projects.
Speaking during a Zanu-PF Matabeleland North Provincial Co-ordinating Committee meeting held in Lupane yesterday, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Cain Mathema said there was a need for co-operation between the departments and the communities as friction would mean the collapse of projects. Cde Mathema was speaking as part of his opening remarks to the meeting, which saw various heads of Government departments presenting their activities in the province.
Minister Mathema said it was essential for the ruling party to create dialogue between them and the Government departments to ensure they fulfilled their mandate of developing the province and the nation at large.
“As a province we are pushing for development so that we become self-reliant. We want to move from a state where we are regarded as subsistence farmers to become commercial where our farming activities are not only developing us locally but the entire nation. What I must emphasise is that this meeting is mainly to have our heads of departments telling us what they are doing in the province and we will have members pose questions to them mainly as a means of bringing up constructive debate that will see the province benefit immensely,” said Cde Mathema.
The ruling party’s provincial chairperson, Cde Richard Moyo, said the presentations by the heads of departments showed that President Mugabe and his Government were hardworking and committed towards the development of the nation.
“What I must emphasise is that yes, there might be challenges in their various endeavours but let us bear in mind that there is nothing without challenges,” said Cde Moyo.
Among those who presented at the meeting were Matabeleland North provincial Agritex officer Mr Dumisani Nyoni who revealed that despite the province having been the first to be affected by the army worm, they had made great strides with Command Agriculture Programme. He said they had targeted irrigation schemes in the province to champion the Government initiated Command Agriculture.
“As you know that our province falls under agriculture regions Four and Five, which means our rainfall patterns, are not as much as other provinces which is why we continue encouraging people to concentrate on small grains. I am glad to report that even the irrigation projects we put under Command Agriculture are performing positively and we expect to contribute immensely to the overall national harvest,” said Mr Nyoni.
Acting provincial administrator, Ms Matilda Mlotshwa in her report revealed that among their major challenges in the province was funding constraints mainly regarding their Civil Protection Unit as related to the problem of flooding. She however, revealed that through hard work they have since overcame the challenge.
Other Government departments that presented include the Ministries of Primary and Secondary Education, Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development, Industry and Commerce, Labour and Social Welfare, the Meteorological department, National Aids Council to mention but a few. Also present at the meeting was Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister and Politburo member, Professor Jonathan Moyo.