15 Jul 2021

There is no provision for contribution of a fire station at Masunga in the North East District Development Plan 8 (DDP 8) or the eleventh National Development (NDP 11), Parliament has heard.

Answering a question on Wednesday, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Mabuse Pule said a fire station was proposed for Masunga in the DDP 8 or NDP 11 mid-term review, but could not be accommodated because of budgetary constraints.

“The district will be encouraged to prioritise the project in the next plan,” Mr Mabuse said.

He indicated that the establishment of fire stations and other projects, however, followed the normal bottom up planning process where local authorities identified and prioritised projects according to need.

He added that owing to competing needs, it was often the case that provision of fire stations had to be considered alongside other equally important needs such as infrastructure development like roads, sewerage stormwater drainage including health, water, education, social services and others.

Tati West MP, Mr Simon Moabi had asked minister to explain why Masunga, the headquarters of North East District, had no fire station, despite all available infrastructure.He also wanted to know the criteria or policy regarding establishment of fire stations throughout districts in the country. Ends