Attain self-reliance,Zambians urged

By NATION REPORTER ZAMBIANS have been urged to develop a culture of self-reliance in order to manage affairs of the country sustainably. Joseph Chilinda, the aspiring lawmaker for Ndola Central Constituency, said the leadership at grassroot should appreciate that a progressive national economy would help policy-makers fully align proposed reforms to the necessary will of the people. He said self-reliance should be encouraged if household needs were to be met with self-esteem which should include affordable food and shelter, clean water, personal safety, health and education in a sustainable manner. Mr Chilinda said the Government has continued to implement policies and programmes to support communities on the path of attaining self-reliance. Most obviously, he said, no one would be comfortable to depend on humanitarian assistance hence the need to support Government policies aimed at strengthening livelihoods of people at various levels. He noted that Government’s position was to ensure that self-reliance was supported with the country’s capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to local development challenges. Mr Chilinda said he had decided to join the race for adoption on the Patriotic Front (PF) ticket to ensure policies were effectively implemented in supporting and developing communities. He said there was need to establish strong social contracts between Government and citizens, where the state was expected to deliver through a range of socio-economic empowerment schemes to tangibly improve people’s lives and their future prospects. “Sensitisation is very critical to understanding modern public goods. Financing models such as PPPs which could be used to drive youth and other enterprises in facilitating public goods and service by the private sector participation in coming up with modern bus stops, markets, among others. “The idea is to redevelop bus stops and markets using the PPPs model as the councils have failed. We are keen to champion these starting with pilot projects in Ndola Central with a view to being market leaders in this sphere,” he said.