Mongu CSPR to track national budget

Mongu CSPR to track national budget

Mongu, Feb 5, 2o14, ZANIS…The Civil society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) in western province says  it will strengthen advocacy by tracking the 2014 national budget and other key issues.

Provincial coordinator Kebby Kalima said CSPR in western province will also follow-up service delivery  and monitor government procurement processes as a key component of its strategic plan for this year in order to strengthen advocacy for poverty reduction in the area.

Speaking to ZANIS in an interview in Mongu today, Mr Kalima said the main focus for this year was the procurement monitoring of roads with the support from World Bank to see to it that quality roads are constructed within the specified time.

He said the programme will commence in two weeks time and the targeted roads are the urban roads under construction and the feeder roads in the rural areas.

Mr Kalima said the feeder road under observation is the Limilunga Ushaa road and that it will make it easy for the farmers to transport goods to the market once the road is completed.

He said his organisation is working hand with the Road Development Agency (RDA) to get information on the road contracts signed so far to ensure that contractors adhere to the required road standards.

Mr Kalima stated that under service delivery monitoring, Mongu and Senanga have been targeted to track the services being implemented by the government.

He said radio programmes have been running on radio Liseli and Liambai to disseminate the findings of the services being delivered.

Mr Kalima said the government should allocate more funds to western province due to high poverty levels in the province.

In addition Mr Kalima said the government should review the current NGO Act which states that civil societies can be deregistered without notice adding that this will demotivate most of them.