PAC attacks backyard gardening initiative

OARABILE MOSIKARE
Staff Writer | Tuesday June 4, 2013 00:00

 

PAC member, Kentse Rammidi, wondered about the success rate of the poverty eradication schemes that large sums of money are spent on in one day. Rammidi further asked the rationale of rolling out backyard gardens in places like Kanye, where there is absolutely no water.Another member, Samson Guma Moyo, wondered why the project is driven from the top and not from the bottom. Moyo said as Members of Parliament and councillors, they are merely watching from the side-lines and have no idea what is happening.

'We see a lot of people out there spending a lot of money. Maybe it is a good initiative, but I don't know about it,' said Moyo.He advised Sarah George, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President, to get a grassroots perspective on the matter.He said: 'As legislators we are left out. We only see it on television.'George said when the backyard gardening was envisioned, the planning was done very well.'When the poverty eradication was started, the water situation was not so bad.

Unfortunately when the water restrictions were put in place, the projects had to suffer,' said George.She indicated that with poverty eradication pitsos, there is a lot happening since beneficiaries are given life and entrepreneurial skills. She denied that the project is driven from the top and explained that the projects start from the districts. 'Beneficiaries are chosen from the districts,' explained George.