By JULIUS PHIRI –

THE Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) in Eastern Province has commended the Government for its resolve to spearhead economic development by engaging in road project rehabilitation programmes throughout the country.

CSPR provincial coordinator Maxson Nkhoma said in a Press statement yesterday that the Link Zambia 8000 Project and Pave Zambia 2000 would help to open up various parts of the country to investment opportunities.

Mr Nkhoma said the civil society movement was pleased with the speed and pace at which various infrastructure development projects were being implemented in various districts of the province.

“The completion of the Chipata- Lundazi Road and Chipata-Mfuwe Road, the construction of the Chipata-Chadiza Road, Chipata Vubwi Road, and the construction of the Great East Road from Luangwa Bridge to Mwami border whose contractors have already moved on site are some of the major achievements which the Government has done in the 2013,” he said.

He said the CSPR in Eastern Province was hopeful that through the Pave Zambia 2000 and Link Zambia 8000 projects, many township roads would equally be worked on in the province as was the case with Chipata and Lundazi Districts where a considerable number of township roads have been upgraded to bituminous level.

On job creation, he was happy that various jobs had been created by the Government and private sector in the construction industry.

In the agriculture sector, Mr Nkhoma said the Government had continued to perform poorly with regards to marketing reforms, timely delivery of farming inputs and lack of access to credit by farmers.

“Government should therefore work on reducing the gap between the urban poverty and rural poverty by exploring viable economic activities such as the rural electrification programme, Investments in rural irrigation schemes and a good rural road network to open up rural areas for economic investment,” Mr Nkhoma said.