Senior Chief Chisemphere of Kasungu says modern market structures are crucial in attracting businesses which can help councils to collect more revenue to finance development initiatives.
He said this on Tuesday when Kasungu District Council Finance Service Committee toured various development initiatives, including Chamama Market shelters in Kasungu North East Constituency.
Chisemphere said good market structures have the potential to attract more businesspeople and help the council generate revenue.
He said: “People will be willing to pay market fees if they operate their businesses in good structures. That means more revenue for the council which can help fund other development projects.
“We have to finalise constructing facilities such as the ablution block for the market to be operational.”
The market’s chairperson Ajibu Mpalume said while the vendors are excited about the project, they are worried that the facility is taking too long to be completed.
“We understand that power is not yet connected and that the toilets are not ready. So we appeal to authorities to expedite the remaining works,” he said. In a separate interview, National Local Government Finance Committee senior planning officer Charity Kaunda advised councils to adopt a complete package approach, ensuring that basic components of projects are available.
“At the same time, we are also promoting co-financing. If we know that the Governance to Enable Service Delivery [Gesd] resources cannot accommodate the components, councils should source additional financing through the Constituency Development Fund or District Development Fund,” she said.
The council spent K115 million from Gesd to erect the market shelters in the first phase and spent K70 million on the ablution block under construction
Since the inception of Gesd project in 2021, Kasungu District Council has received close to K3.7 billion in performance-based grants under the project
