GOVERNMENT ACCELERATES PROCUREMENT OF THE 156 CDF-FUNDED AMBULANCES
Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Permanent Secretary (Technical services) Mr. Nicholas Phiri updates the Nation on the procurement of Ambulances.
Here are the highlights;
✅Eighteen more Ambulances have arrived in the country and this is the second consignment, bringing the total to 29 out of the 156 procured under the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
✅Six more ambulances are currently at the port, while 12 are en route and expected to arrive by mid-February 2025.
✅The process to deliver all the 156 procured ambulances remain on schedule, affirming that the remaining consignments would be delivered by March this year.
✅Attributed the delay in delivering the ambulances to the situation that had developed in one of the neighboring countries through which Government shipped the ambulances and the disruption of the festival season where most of the firms, including the shipping companies, had gone on recess.
✅Government will not wait until all the 156 ambulances are received before they can be flagged off or distributed to the respective areas.
✅Once the other 18 ambulances are received in the next two weeks or so, arrangements for distribution to respective constituencies will be made.
✅Government will first consider the vulnerability of some Constituencies in terms of outbreak of diseases and the ministry of health will guide on the levels of vulnerability.
✅Areas like Nakonde for example had experienced an outbreak of chlorella just a few weeks ago and that makes that area a priority and of course Lusaka is always an epicenter of diseases.
✅The Ambulances come with well-stocked first aid kits to respond to emergencies immediately.
✅Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary further updated the nation on the implementation of the Cash for Work program, revealing that a total number of 1,418,435 beneficiaries were engaged under the program.
✅Out of 1,418,435 beneficiaries that were engaged from November to December 2024, Government has paid a sum of K452,851,505. 89 to 1,024,970 beneficiaries, reflecting a payment performance of 60 percent.
✅Government faced some challenges in processing the payments and among them;
i. The mismatch between the names registered in the SIM cards as well as the names on the NRC.
ii. Some areas are completely cut off from mobile network, and even where the mobile network existed hence the financial inclusion was poor.