Abida Mia (from second left) with Japanese officials
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi deputy lands minister Abida Sidik Mia has secured a US$90,000 grant from the Japanese Embassy to construct a modern health clinic in Therere catchment area in her Chikwawa Nkombedzi Constituency.
The grant signing ceremony took place at the Japanese Embassy this week in the capital Lilongwe.
In a brief statement made available to The Maravi Post Mia disclosed that once the clinic is completed will cater for a population of 12,000 people.
“The people in this community currently walk a very long distance to seek medical services to a nearest health facility and this project formed part of the social contract from myself as their leader and them as my constituents. As an icing on the cake, I will build two staff houses for the clinic using the constituency development fund.
“Therefore, apart from fulfilling my promise to the people, this project will not only reduce the high mortality rate in the area but will also go a long way in improving safe motherhood in my constituency,” delighted Minister Abida Mia
LILONGWE-(MaraviPost)-As the social media community continues to debate the Sunday Times’ cabinet assessment amidst questions on how Queen of the Lower Shire Abida Sidik Mia got 6 points, her historical rescue of the Kamuzu View from illegal developers comes to mind.
For starters, some officials in the Ministry of Land sold off the Kamuzu View, which is a well known place along the Blantyre-Chikwawa Road.
It is a national landmark as it was a leisure spot for the country’s founding president Kamuzu Banda.
Presently, Malawians from all walks of life go there to have fun during weekends to admire the scenic views and hold parties. And the piece of land was sold to a Blantyre based businessman for a song.
Mia keenly following up land transactions
It took the Deputy Minister of Lands, Mrs. Mia to question the transaction and halted the whole process. This, coming on the background of cabinet ministers from previous and current administrations receiving kickbacks from sales of various national treasures, would have earned Mrs. Mia another point or two, so that she be on point 8.
That was not all. On Tuesday, December 8, she went to Mpemba in Blantyre where she successfully investigated reports that some public officers were embroiled in dubious acquisition of plots. She was accompanied by the District Commissioner, Benet Nkasala and Blantyre Council Chairperson Mussa Chikwawa.
Earlier, she intercepted some trucks loaded with Affordable Input Programme (AIP) fertilizer in what is being suspected to be a scheme by some unpatriotic Malawians to manipulate the programme for their personal gain.
Mia intercepting a truck loaded with AIP stuff
This is just an example of how hardworking the minister has been. Abida has been up and down working tirelessly to ensure that all issues concerning illegal land transactions is sorted out for once and for all, in a ministry that is the most haunted when it comes to corruption.
Soon after being appointed deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Mia vowed to fight against corruption and all bureaucratic bottlenecks that hamper effective delivery of services to the public.
She also vowed to serve with honesty, passion, dedication and hard work to make significant contribution in building a new Malawi, leave good legacy and inspire the girl child in the society.
She then consequently beseeched Malawians to support her in any way possible while discharging her duties in freeing Malawians from living as foreigners in their own country.
Abida investigating land issue in Mpemba
Abida Mia is among President Lazarus Chakwera’s Tonse Administration cabinet ministers need be maintained or promoted into a full minister in 2021.
MANGOCHI-(MaraviPost)-Water scarcity in some communities of Mangochi will be a thing of the past, courtesy of Deputy Minister of Lands Abida Mia MP who has embarked on a 7 borehole drilling project costing over MK20 Million.
People of Funwe in Senior Chief Nankumba are among the communities who have benefitted from the project.
Mia embarked on the project after she learnt that women including the elderly walk long distances to access water from unsafe sources.
According to Mia, all the 7 boreholes will be complete and ready to provide water by next week Friday, December 18, 2020.
The Deputy Minister has since urged the people of Mangochi West to vote for the Independent Candidate Simeon Harrison in the December 15 parliamentary by-election.
Abidah stands with Gerald Kazembe for water as a priority
During her visit to one of the borehole project site of Funwe last Friday, Mia assured eligible voters that it was Harrison who has shown genuine commitment to improve the lives of people in the area hence deserve support through the ballot to represent them in parliament.
On the ballot paper, the Independent Candidate Simeon Harrison will be identified by a symbol of borehole.
CHIKWAWA-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Deputy Minister of Lands and Urban Development, Abida Mia who is also Member of Parliament (MP) for Chikwawa Nkombezi Constituency has described Super Steel Limited as partners in community development for supporting with building materials for the construction of an Under 5 (U-5) Clinic in her constituency.
During the official handover at the construction site in Group Village Headman Phazi, Mia said communities need to have clinics closer to their villages to enable every woman to access medical services, which can help to improve safe motherhood and reduce infant mortality rate, which is currently very high.
She said when the U-5 clinic construction project will be completed, it will assist women from the area to easily access antinatal care, against the background of traveling long distances to access such services.
The Deputy Minister mentioned that within four months of serving as MP for the area, she has managed to fulfill different developmental projects such as drilling of boreholes and construction of a mortuary, just to mention a few.
In his remarks, Super Sakuwa Steel Limited Marketing Director Pascal Chipondeponde said, the company’s support is part part of their corporate social responsibility for their customers.
He said apart from doing business, the company also cares for the health of children hence the support towards U-5 clinic.
Commenting after receiving the materials, Group Village Headman Phazi commended both the lawmaker, Abida Mia and Sakuwa Steel Limited for the timely gesture.
The traditional leader promised to secure the donated construction materials for the project to be effective.
On the day, Super Sakuwa Steel Limited donated 60 bags of cement, iron sheets and roofing nails including money for the purchase of bricks and river sand.
BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Deputy Minister of Lands Abida Mia says Tonse administration through the Ministry of Lands will embark on a slum-upgrading project to provide decent and low cost houses for urban dwellers.
Speaking on October 30, 2020 during commemoration of World Habitat day and World Cities day, Mia said that Slum Upgrading Project is a program which the Ministry is working on and will include high rise buildings and people will be able to buy flats on sectional title.
“I can assure you that through this project we will build houses so that people can afford to buy the houses on a loan facility and these people include government employees and people that work in other companies all of them will be able to afford to buy these houses.
“As you know we have a huge shortage as approximately 21 thousand houses are needed per year to the people in the city so once we embark on this project we will make sure that we can accommodate many people at least in medium and low income,” said Mia.
She also added that the Ministry is working on improving the Cement and Malata Subsidy program so that it can benefit both rural and urban communities and make a positive impact in the housing sector.
She then called upon donor community, the private sector, local and foreign investors to work with the government in improving access to affordable and decent housing for people of all income levels through the slum up-grading project and the low cost housing project.
“The government of Malawi through our ministry is set to offer citizens decent, housing and we have plans to start constructing low cost houses for needy people. Some of the houses in rural areas will be about 7.5 million, they will have a toilet inside, a boundary fence, everything inside for security reasons.
“But obviously right now many people have sub-standard houses but once we embark on this project we will ensure the housing is improved and the number of beneficiaries would rise in the subsequent years as government will be increasing funding to the project,” said Mia.
On the World Habitat day and World Cities day in Malawi, Mia said the commemoration is very important because many issues concerning housing that will change the country.
“It’s actually very exciting for us simply because we are looking at many issues, we are looking at a new project whereby we will be going into every constituency and building houses for vulnerable as well that will be the elderly, children and people with albinism.
“So it’s very exciting knowing we have huge plans for the future and the government is working tirelessly to ensure that the cities are looking beautiful and people have safe and affordable houses,” she said.
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