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E88M SET ASIDE FOR RDF PROJECTS

04/06/2015 08:32:00 BY MUSA SIMELANE

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LOBAMBA – The Regional Development Fund (RDF) is on the brink of being operational again as E88 million has now been deposited in the account of Micro Projects.

Members of Parliament (MPs) received this piece of news with glee when Minister of Tinkhundla Administration and Development Mduduzi Dlamini gave an update in Parliament yesterday.
This was after legislators in the House of Assembly expressed concern that time was running out and their constituencies were now asking questions.

Micro Projects is a development wing within the portfolio of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, which was roped in last year as an agent that would facilitate and monitor the use of the fund.

Projects

The minister said all along there was E80m in the Micro Projects account, but as of yesterday afternoon, E8 million was deposited in order to complete the E88m. This is the RDF budget which was allotted by government in this year’s budget speech for the 2014/15 financial year.
“We’ve been knocking on the door of the Ministry of Finance asking for the extra E8 million,” said Dlamini.

He also said the process of setting up structures within each constituency to facilitate the handling of public applications for funds was now concluded. This is so that people could start making applications.

Constituencies

The minister mentioned that about 300 application forms were distributed among the constituencies and 700 more were coming.
However, the legislators were concerned about the time all this would take, but Dlamini assured them that the fund would get started soon.
The rationale of introducing Micro Projects was due to misuse of the fund, where in some cases there were elements of corrupt practices.

The government entity would, therefore, ensure that every cent was accounted for on all the RDF financed projects in various communities. Also, the entity was found to be widely capacitated with crucial skills that have seen it successfully fostering development projects in communities.

The Micro Projects coordination office was established in 1988 by the Swaziland Government as a semi-independent unit of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development, with assistance from the European Union.
It is mainly responsible for: recommending the best projects from among many applications; supervision and monitoring of new projects; evaluation of completed projects; advising grass roots communities concerning their priorities and project ideas. The Micro Projects Programme Coordinating Unit (MPCU) also cooperates closely with other donor agencies, NGOs and various departments.