BUILDING Mbamba Bay Port in Lake Nyasa will improve transportation in the zone and enhance connectivity with Malawi and Mozambique, President Samia Suluhu Hassan said yesterday.

She waso laying a foundation stone for the design and construction of the new port in Nyasa District, Ruvuma Region, the total cost being billed at 81bn/-.

She urged the relevant authorities to ensure that the project is implemented at high standards to create a high-quality port, whose completion will increase business opportunities for local residents.

The port project will enhance income for small and medium-sized traders during the two-year implementation period, she said, noting that it will also stimulate activities for supporting infrastructure like roads, water supply and electricity.

This will greatly benefit the local community, so the responsible authorities need to build reliable marketplaces where people can conveniently sell their fish.

The Livestock and Fisheries ministry needs to bring in experts to teach cage fishing techniques, she said, remarking that the government has started providing fertilizer subsidies to coffee farmers.

It is strengthening cooperative unions to see to it that farmers take up good farming methods, follow experts’ instructions on how to dry coffee to ensure it meets international market standards, she said.

She asked residents and motor vehicle operators to protect infrastructure to achieve intended benefits, appealing to Nyasa residents to register as voters in the civic poll and general election next year.

At a Mbamba Bay rally, the president urged coffee farmers to adopt modern farming techniques to ensure quality, maintaining access to markets. She praised the region as a leading coffee producer, hinting at the establishment of auctions, including e-auctions, to secure markets and provide seedlings to farmers.

“We must ensure that our harvests are treated properly after picking to maintain their quality,” she stated, while in Mbinga District she urged ward councillors and district officials to uphold professionalism to improve governance and service delivery.

Service delivery must reflecting the standards of facilitation in the new building, such that “those who arrive with frustrations should leave with smiles after their grievances are addressed,” she demanded.

Residents need to invest wisely in agriculture, promote income-generating projects and savings, as government subsidies would not last indefinitely, she said, while Mbinga Rural MP Benaya Kapinga raised concerns about inadequate access to clean water.

He was also disappointed with low levels of corporate social responsibility from miners, and a lack of cereal storage facilities.

Agriculture minister Hussein Bashe responded that the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) had procured over 13,000 tonnes of maize and plans to introduce maize cleaning machines next year.