Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Gary Nkombo, has stressed government’s commitment to providing sustainable human settlements, as demonstrated in the development of 116 Integrated Development Plans (IDPs) in all the 116 Districts.
Mr. Nkombo says the development and implementation of IDPs is in line with SDGs No. 11, which seeks to promote resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.
Speaking when he paid a courtesy on the Zambian mission in Egypt where Zambia is participating at the 12th Session of the World Urban Forum, Mr. Nkombo said that in line with SDG No. 11, government has embarked on the urban renewal programme aimed at upgrading unplanned settlements with Kanyama Compound in Lusaka, being first among many other unplanned settlements.
“Stakeholders including private financiers are therefore urged to partner with government through the ministry in providing finances for the upgrading of unplanned settlements using the private-public partnerships (PPP) models,” said Mr. Nkombo in a statement issued to RCV News in Lusaka today, by Ministry Public Relations Officer, Chila Namaiko.
And in a quest to reduce development inequalities between the rural and urban development, the minister stated that government is accelerating the implementation of the decentralisation agenda through devolution, by moving both functions and fiscal capacity to local authorities.
He cited how the government had significantly increased the allocation of resources to communities through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in order to encourage a locally driven development
Angel Kasabo
