Work together – Micro-projects
MANZINI – Micro-projects Programme Coordination Director Sibusiso Mbingo has encouraged the community of Maliyaduma to find a way of working with the water project committee.
Mbingo said the community was one of those that worked hard to get the water scheme project running in the area and as Micro-projects, they were proud of what they had achieved so far. He stated that what the committee was requesting from the people was necessary for the upkeep of the water scheme.
He said the project needed money for it to run on a daily basis, hence the need for the E1 500 fee. He encouraged the people to participate through paying the needed fees because failure to pay could collapse the scheme.
“We are aware of the project and we are monitoring the situation on the ground, hence we want to encourage the people of Maliyaduma to participate and pay the needed fees. The money helps in the upkeep of the scheme. There is a lot of maintenance that is invovlved in ensuring such a scheme runs smoothly, besides the electricity units that are needed to pump the water daily, there is also the possibility of faults and bursting of pipes which might need to be fixed,” he said.
Mbingo said this was one of their flagship projects due to the resilience of the people and the hard work they showed during the construction. He said it was standard for communities to contribute 25 per cent of what was given by government under Micro-projects. He mentioned that the 25 per cent contribution could be in cash or in kind through the provision of manpower by the community.
Collapsed
“I can tell you now that maintenance has collapsed a lot of water schemes and we are proud that the committee at Maliyaduma is calling for such contributions. However, it in the same vein that we encourage the committee to be accountable and transparent in their dealings. Let them find a firm to audit and produce clear reports because that is the only way people can be encouraged to pay the fees. We want to encourage everyone to find a balanced way of working together,” he said.
Mbingo emphasised that the committee should find a way of ensuring that an audit was done and all financials were recorded properly for the people to gain confidence in the work they do.