Increased CDF has created deficit - Feira MP

THE increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF) has created a deficit in the money that is supposed to be used to develop the constituencies because the central government cast all their burdens on that money, Feira Member of Parliament Emmanuel Tembo has said.

Mr Tembo said what the UPND administration was not telling the people was that the increased CDF had come with increased responsibilities for the constituencies.

He said in the UPND administration if a Member of Parliament went to the Ministry of Infrastructure to ask for funds for a road, government was always referring them back to the CDF money.

Mr Tembo said if all the projects that were being handled by central government in the past were being relegated to the CDF then it meant that the K28.5 million was never going to be enough.

He said there were road projects that cost millions of Kwacha and the whole CDF money would be swallowed and the other projects would be stalled.

“They are just singing praises about the increased CDF without telling the people all developmental project including loans have been attached to that money, it will be hard to develop with that amount,” he said.

Mr Tembo said in the past Government carried the burden of developing the country in all the parts and the CDF was meant to handle small projects in a constituency.

He said the idea of decentralisation of resources through CDF would take a lot of time and effort before the implementation started yielding results because the programme was rushed.