Member of Parliament for Salima Central Constituency Gerald Kapiseni Phiri has asked government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports to construct a youth centre in his constituency, saying young people in the area do not have anything to do as most of them are unemployed.
Making the request in Parliament on Thursday, the MP argued that having a youth centre will see many of them benefiting through learning different skills and sharing business ideas.
“Today, I did ask the Minister of Youth and Sports if it is possible for the Minister to construct a youth centre in my Constituency because this was a request made by a gathering of youth that approached me to ask for them,” said Phiri.
According to Phiri, youth in Salima Central are having a lot of challenges because they do not have a youth centre and there is no meeting point for them to share skills and share knowledge.
“You know Salima is one area which is close to the Lake and there are challenges because as you aware HIV prevalence is high along the lake side. The best place to engage the youth is the youth centre because at the centre there are youth friendly services that are provided by health personnel. So, there is need for this youth centre so that a lot can be done but also the youth can prevent themselves from indulging into malpractices,” said Phiri.
In his response, Minister of Youth and Sports Uchizi Mkandawire asked the MP to submit the request at district level so that the plan of constructing the youth centre can be included in the district development plan and that Salima Central may be considered for a youth centre.
On the same day, Member of Parliament for Mzuzu City Bennex Mwamlima asked the Minister of Youth and Sports to consider constructing a Youth Centre in Mzuzu City as people of Mzuzu City were assured that the construction would start soon but there has been no visible progress on the ground.
Responding to Mzuzu City, the Minister of Youth and Sports said the construction of phase 1 Mzuzu youth centre has commenced with the handover of construction site to DEC Construction in 2022 and the contractor is currently on site.
