THIS time each year, councils countrywide prepare and present their budgets for the year ahead to the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, which scrutinises the financial plan and approves it.
Each council is expected to clearly highlight the required funding from the Central Government in its budget to facilitate operations and enhance delivery of services to the general public.
Councils would then allocate these funds into personal emoluments, Ward Development Fund (WDF), councillor’s allowances, Constituency Development Fund (CDF), and other administrative sectors.
Councils, whether at district, municipal or city level, have a common task of ensuring the delivery of services that meet expectations of the people they serve.
This means that the public expect their streets and market places to be free of garbage, streets to be lit during night time, among other social services provided by the council.
Hence the role of councils cannot be over emphasised and this is why it is disappointing to look at the quality of services that Zambians have been subjected to by councils countrywide.
During the rainy season, markets and bus terminus are the last places that people want to be found in due to poor sanitation and drainage facilities.
Areas like City market, Kamwala and Soweto in Lusaka, Maramba in Livingstone, Chisokone in Kitwe and Main market in Ndola are not desirable for the public to visit during the rainy season.
Councils have failed to put up structures such as paved roads and drainages in these places to make them more passable by pedestrians and even motorists.
Despite having poor drainage systems, these areas are usually filled with dirt albeit due to public negligence, but the council could have by now done something to take care of the situation permanently.
One cannot even buy any reasonable food or beverage from such places only if it is at their own peril because they risk catching waterborne diseases.
The most patronised places like markets and bus terminus have very few garbage disposal facilities and this is the more reason members of the public look for alternatives and litter in undesignated places.
The idea of employing street sweepers was a good initiative which should be supplemented by continuous sensitisation programmes to increase awareness about waste disposal among members of the public including street vendors.
Councils should invest more money in garbage collection in public places by procuring more refuse collection equipment and disposal facilities.
The local authority should consider revising the time at which garbage is collected from the streets because doing so during daily working hours makes the exercise seem extraneous.
Government should be commended for supplementing the financial requirements of the local authorities through the introduction of the Local Government Equalisation fund (LGEF) effective January 2015.
This could also be supplemented by the reintroduction of the crop levy which the local authorities have been calling for to help them maximise on revenue.
Government has provided the CDF and WDF for shanty townships to be developed into reasonable urban suburbs, with facilities suitable for human habitation.
This is why it is critical that councilors constantly interact with people at the grassroots to know what the community needs are, and this should be prominent in the council meetings where the budget is prepared.
Aside from matters around funding, can councils seriously address issues surrounding the sale of foodstuffs in undesignated areas?
It is not ideal to sale foodstuffs in open areas due to exposure to dirt and this puts the health of consumers at risk.
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