MARTIN MAWAYA
GWERU-Newly appointed Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister, Owen Ncube, has urged Government head of departments and local authorities to create an enabling environment for economic development in the Province.
He said councils should come up with practical and inclusive strategies to promote investment as well as operationalizing the ease of doing business in their areas of jurisdiction.
The Minister said this during an interactive meeting with the Heads of government departments, District Development Coordinator’s (DDC’s), Council Town Clerks and Chief Executive Officers in the Midlands province.
“The role of local authorities must expand in the context of devolution of being facilitator and enabler of economic development as provided for in our Vision 2030 and NDS1.
“This is particularly important in view of the role of local authorities to grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of areas under their jurisdiction.
“We must create a harmonious working relationship that creates synergies at all levels of Government as well as the Private Sector, Community Based Organisation, Faith Based Organisations among other sectors of our communities,” said Minister Ncube.
He said in order to achieve the desired development outcomes, planning and programming should shift from the routine local authority service delivery mantra to the entire economy and society at large.
Ncube stressed the need for councils to be more invested with its “fiscal capacity and strategically focus to maximize growth from its competitive advantages”.
He challenged DDC’s and local authorities to be more focused on implementing and coordinating central Government projects in their districts.
“We are servants of the people and we are expected to deliver. You are the foot soldiers appointed to drive the country’s vision on the ground.
“Rather you are mandated to be highly innovative, sustain the gains realized in the past 5 years and accelerate implementation of all the developmental programmes and projects towards the achievement of our national goals and objectives.
“We must be mindful of our pressure points such as manufacturing, mining and its value chains, agriculture and its value chains with focus on cotton, dairy, livestock and the retail sector among other essential economic aspects that have been identified as major drivers of our GDP,” he said.
