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Luanshya District Commissioner, Harold Mbaulu says his office has embarked on a job creation project through the introduction of irrigation agriculture in the district.
Mr Mbaulu said his office in collaboration with the District Agriculture office was formulating modalities to introduce and encourage small scale irrigation farming in the district.
“So far, we have gone a step ahead by engaging our district agriculture technical team which has submitted a report on some areas such as Michinshi dam in Kafubu block advising on how best this undertaking can be employed in that area,” Mr Mbaulu said.
He disclosed that the district has budgeted for the procurement of irrigation farming equipment which would be given to small scale farmers to encourage crop diversification to be done throughout the year.
He said Luanshya was endowed with vast land and streams that were laying idol, saying with maximized utilization they would create a lot of job opportunities in the district.
“We have so much fertile soils with streams flowing throughout the year, what we need is to engage in irrigation farming for us to create jobs and even contribute to the economic growth of the district,” he said.
The District Commissioner said the move was in line with the Patriotic Front (PF) manifesto which had placed agriculture on its top agenda by creating favourable policies that promote the sector.
He however called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders in the district including the business community in the realization of the project.
Meanwhile, the District Commissioner bemoaned the land ownership irregularities that have characterized the district.
Mr Mbaulu noted that the current land ownership insecurities were threatening potential business investment in the district.
He has since urged the council to iron out the land irregularities to encourage the business community to set up sustainable agriculture invest in the district.
“Am appealing to the council to iron out these irregularities because currently there is no security in terms of land ownership, people do not want to set up their businesses and later be disrupted by someone else claiming ownership of the same land,” he said.
Mr Mbaulu further stated that he was engaging the council to identify land that can be allocated to prospective sustainable business investment in the district.
In another development, the District Commissioner disclosed that he was working with the provincial administration and various stakeholders in the district to refurbish old strategic building in the district.
Mr Mbaulu observed that the district administration office which houses most of the government departments in the district was old and in a deplorable state.
He noted that refurbishing old buildings in the district would not only add beauty to the district but that was also in support of the keep Luanshya clean initiative being spearheaded by the district local authority.
