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Government has urged public service workers to abreast themselves with information on which to make meaningful decisions.
Copperbelt province Permanent Secretary Stanford Msichili said this during the official opening of the Provincial Development Coordinating Committee meeting in Ndola today.
Mr. Msichili said public service workers are the mirrors of the government and the people they serve and that they should be seen to be proactive by not falling into the usual government laisser-faire attitude.
“I wish to strongly advise you not only to sharpen your reading culture but to find time to refer to and understand information that is relevant to your work,” he said.
Mr. Msichili said unless public service workers take corrective measures they will continue to play talk show which is a waste of public resources.
He said it is government’s resolve that the people not only deserve better lives but are entitled to better lives which public service workers should strive to achieve.
He said it was sad to note that the public still perceive public service workers as a non factor in service delivery but pointed out that they can instead help provide improved services.
“The national and provincial budget have been pegged at K42.682 billion and K86.5 million respectively. These levels of expenditure cannot meet both the national and provincial requirements.
In view of the massive injection of resources into the infrastructure development on roads, health, agriculture and education it should be noted that the national cake is too small to meet all the demands,” Mr. Msichili said.
He added that even with limited resources there is need to maximize on the available resources by reducing wastage.
And on employment creation, Mr. Msichili said as the country celebrates its 50th independence anniversary, government will strive to better the lives of people as its focus is on employment creation adding that redundancies should be the last resort.
He noted that irrigation programs will also be enhanced in collaboration with the multi purpose economic zone to manufacture irrigation equipment for an improved agriculture sector.
Mr. Msichili urged local authorities to take stock of the number of factories and business premises closed with a view of putting them to good use.
“I believe the Zambia Development Agency can solicit for funding so that the same infrastructure is used, if need be we may resort to compulsory acquisition,” he said.
Mr. Msichili further called on councils in the province to improve on service delivery by critically examining other sources of revenue which include pursing local economic development initiatives.
ENDS/
