Prime Minister of the Republic of Iceland, Bjarni Benediktsson, says he is satisfied with the implementation of projects in the country which his government is funding through Iceland International Development Agency (ICEIDA).
The Prime Minister said this on Tuesday in Mangochi after visiting projects that have been done in the district by the Government of Iceland since 1989.
Iceland has been supporting Malawi for 35 years now in various sectors, including education, health as well as water and sanitation.
In Mangochi, the Embassy of Iceland has supported the construction of maternity wing at Mangochi District Hospital, Monkey-Bay Rural Hospital, as well as school blocks in 35 schools.
Speaking during the visit, Benediktsson said the collaboration approach of his government with Malawi in implementation of projects through Mangochi District Council has proved to be effective, to an extent his government intends to extend the model to other districts in the country.
“As Iceland, we believe in giving chance for local structures to take a leading role during the implementation of projects, and what Mangochi District Council has demonstrated for the past years is very satisfactory.
“Seeing some of the results today, especially at Koche Demonstration School where the construction of school blocks has helped to reduce teacher to pupil ratio, and at Mangochi District Hospital, where a maternity wing has helped to improve health status of women and children in the district, I am very impressed,” said Benediktsson.
He added: “As such, we are confident that with continued sustainable effort, our collaboration has shown that in the next years, through this district approach on implementing of projects, we will achieve a lot.”
In his remarks, Minister of Local Government, Unity and Culture Richard Chimwendo Banda said what Government of Iceland has achieved in Mangochi is a testimony of strong bilateral relationship which currently exists between citizens of the two countries.
Banda said developments that have taken shape in Mangochi have helped to improve livelihood of many Malawians in the district.
“Imagine for instance, at Koche Demonstration Primary School where Iceland has constructed 18 classroom blocks, as well as nine teacher houses. By doing so, they have helped to improve passing rate of pupils who are now going to secondary school in large numbers.
“Not only that, since 1989, this government has helped us with state of the art health facilities across Mangochi, that have helped to save so many lives. With that, as Malawi Government, we say thank you,” said Banda.
Amongst other projects that Iceland has funded in Mangochi include a water and sanitation programme, where a total of 8,000 latrines, 606 boreholes, as well as 420 shallow wells have been constructed.
Currently, through Iceland, government is constructing a maternity wing at Makanjira Hospital, as well as finance and administration offices at Mangochi District Commissioner’s office..
Amongst delegates at the event included Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Deputy Minister of Education Nancy Mdoko, and Traditional Authorities of Mangochi.
