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Ministry plans for urbanisation

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development is holding a national technical workshop on urban development to find technical solutions.

Speaking in Blantyre yesterday during the opening of the workshop, the ministry’s director of local government services Sphiwe Mauwa said urban councils and urban growth points have over the years faced tremendous challenges affecting service delivery.

High urbanasation lead to proliferation of slams

She said: “The population of the country’s major cities was 3 304 531 in June 2019 and it is projected to reach 4 254 811 by 2023. This means that the population of major cities will have increased by 18.3 percent by 2025.”

According to Mauwa, population growth affects citizens’ livelihood as it leads to proliferation of slums, congestion on roads, pollution and water problems, security concerns and environmental degradation, among other things.

Said Mauwa: “The adoption of the game changer philosophy which the ministry and central and local governments have embraced has already begun to unleash positive fruits of transformation.”

In his remarks, UNDP resident representative Shigeki Komatsubara said growth of cities provides economic development.

He said: “We need to come up with ways to help our cities develop so that they start to produce wealth, jobs and opportunities for local talent. If many people migrate to cities and find no opportunities, it will put pressure on resources.”

Komatsubara said his organisation is working with all cities to find ways of solving the challenges.   

According to deputy director for urban development Mphatso Kadaluka, the ministry is using the National Urban Policy as a  guide.

“The policy is looking at relationship between urban areas and rural areas. We are also look at planning before projects on how resilient the structures are. The workshop was held under the theme Transformation of Urban Centres into Sustainable Economic Hubs for Wealth Creation.

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