LANDS, Local Governments and Natural Resources ministries need to assemble a team of experts to address land scarcity in Nyakanazi area in Biharamulo District, Kagera Region.

Dr Emmanuel Nchimbi, the party secretary general, issued this appeal at a rally in the area, where his more elaborate remarks were directed at project delays in the area and elsewhere.

He said that there is need for studies to ensure fair treatment of residents while balancing environmental and national development concerns in order to make land access easoier for local residents.

He told the rally that action has to be taken against officials awarding tenders to incompetent construction companies thus causing delays in project completion, asserting that there are elements of corruption in such tenders.

This is what leads officials to award contracts to unqualified firms, he declared, asserting that “we are seeing situations where individuals with no experience in construction are assigned major projects

“For example, someone who has never laid a brick is given the job of building a laboratory. This is like expecting someone who sells ice cream to successfully sell peanuts."

He emphasized that the performance of senior public servants should be evaluated in relation to the competence of the contractors they appoint.

 “Everyone should be assigned work according to their capability,” he said, recalling the time he served as legislator for Songea. A road construction project, initially set to be completed in one year, took five years, he said, affirming that corruption becomes evident when the losses from project delays are not transparent.

“The small amount of money a senior official is given may not seem significant, but it comes at the expense of the nation,” he stressed, pointing at the Biharamulo-Nyakanazi water project.

He instructed the Water minister Jumaa Aweso to expedite the project, actually asking the minister to oversee the matter and ensure the construction is completed quickly to alleviate water scarcity for the people of Biharamulo and Nyakanazi.

The delayed water project undermines the significant work done by the legislator for the area and weakens the ruling party's commitment to defending the vulnerable, the party executive intoned.