Nkhata Bay District Council has set aside K12 million from its development budget to construct and rehabilitate tourist facilities in the district to enhance revenue collection that will be used in development projects.
Nkhata Bay district commissioner(DC) Alex Mdooko said on Tuesday during a meeting at the council, it is surprising that the local authority does not own a single tourism facility for revenue generation despite having a beautiful scenery which attracts tourists.
Said Mdooko: “We are losing a lot of revenue by not prioritising and investing in the tourism sector”.
Mdooko said such investments have seen their counterparts in Ntchisi excelling in development from revenue they collect from a lodging facility they constructed years back.
The project, which will run in phases, will see the council constructing a decent water front bar as well as transforming the existing council rest house into a better facility.
In his remarks, the district’s director of planning and development Francis Matewere said the council has enough natural resources to generate revenue for development.
Said Matewere: “We need to capitalise on our beautiful forests, fresh waters and friendly people.”
Matewere asked people to support the project which will require approval of the full council meeting.
The district, which hosts over 200 tourism facilities owned by the private sector, has recently seen a boom in new tourist attraction centres along its beaches.
In 2005, the district hosted the famous Lake of Stars Festival, held at Chintheche Inn, which saw thousands of tourists flocking to the lakeshore district.
