The Balaka District Council on Wednesday officially inaugurated the newly constructed office for Rivirivi Extension Planning Area (EPA) which has been constructed with K38,720,847.71 million funding from the Governance to Enable Service Delivery Fund (GESD).
Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources for Balaka District Council, David Ali, said he anticipates an enhanced service delivery provision from agricultural extension services workers as they will now be operating in a conducive environment free from hazards.
He said: “I am very thankful for the construction of this structure. You can see that the office that we were occupying was a life-threatening one but this time around we will be working comfortably here.”
The previous office developed serious cracks and could leak during the rainy season which forced the workers to sometimes suspend their activities in eventualities of rains.
In a related development, the council also handed over to the community a maternity wing at Chimatiro Health Centre, which has been constructed with K67, 344,390.52 million from the same GESD fund.
However, while commending the council for the project which is expected to ease challenges faced by expectant mothers in the area, the councilor for Nkhonde Ward in Balaka Central East Constituency, Steve Michael Sauka has pleaded with the council secretariat to fast-track electricity connection at the facility.
In his remarks, the Director of Planning and Development for Balaka District Council, Chris Nawata stressed that the council is committed to ensuring that development projects are evenly distributed in the district.
He said as a council, they would ensure to be implementing projects that are responsive to challenges rocking people in the district.
Governance to Enable Service Delivery Projects are being implemented by councils through the National Local Government Finance Committee with funding from the World Bank.
