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5 bills ready for Parliament

Kasaila: So far four are ready
Kasaila: So far four are readyil

Malawi’s Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe will next week table five loan authorisation bills for approval in Parliament, among them one for the construction of the National Cancer Centre.

Leader of the House Francis Kasaila said in an interview yesterday four of the bills were ready to be tabled, but said he would only know the amounts involved during first reading of the bills.

The bills include a Skills Development Project loan authorisation from the International Development Agency (IDA), Malawi Social Action Fund (Masaf) IV which aims to strengthen safety net systems, a Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Project to be funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on behalf of Nigeria Trust Fund and the multinational Nacala Road Development Project to be funded by the African Development Fund (ADF).

“So far, the four bills are ready. The fifth one for the National Cancer Treatment Centre to be funded by Opec is not ready, but we are hoping by Monday,” Kasaila said.

The budget for the cancer project, which will be located within Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, stands at $14 million.

However, the 30 bills which fell off after the constitutional dissolution of Parliament in March have been sent back to Cabinet.

Among the bills which had reached the committee stage included the legalisation of the Public Service Remuneration Board which has since been constituted in the absence of an enabling law.

“Cabinet will have to take a look at the bills again and possibly table them in the next meeting,” he said.

Kasaila also disclosed that there would be no debate on the provisional budget for July to October which Gondwe is expected to present Friday (today) except for responses from the political party spokespersons on finance.

Meanwhile, Minister of Information Kondwani Nankhumwa is today expected to present a ministerial statement on the Access to Information Bill which the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has promised to expedite.

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