By 
By Delisa Thwala
The Ministry of Tinkhundla Administration and Development has completed their major projects to the value of E35 603 018 72.
This is contained in their 2nd Financial performance report tabled in Parliament.
According to the report, the Ministry has been able to do that from July to September 2024, which is the second quarter of the 2024/25 fiscal in Eswatini.
There are 53 projects that were undertaken in number out of these projects, 10 of them are Income Generating Projects (IGPs), while 43 of them are infrastructural projects.
The report further states the Emaswati that benefitted from these projects are 8730 and 445 jobs were created In the process.
“There are 143 ongoing projects of which 42 are IGPS, of them are infrastructural projects. The ongoing projects are worth E157 409 92151 and Emaswati set to benefit are 33 913, creating 1017 jobs,’’ reads the report in part.
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Worth mentioning is that the Government, through the Tinkhundla Ministry, had committed to spend E167 356 56504 to create 892 jobs in their 2024/25 financial year.
The report stated that this move was expected to help 34 984 Emaswati, according to the 2024/25 First Quarter Performance Report for the Ministry.
The money would be spent on infrastructure projects in all of the four regions of the country which were under the RDF.
Meanwhile four infrastructure projects were completed during the first quarter. The completed projects were worth E1 712 759.00 benefitting 10 715 directly and creating 107 jobs.
“There are 159 are ongoing projects of which forty-five (45) are income-Generating Projects (GPS) and 114 are infrastructures. The total amount of the projects is worth E167 356 565 04,’’ states the report.
Another section of the report further states that, a project has been allocated external assistance funding from the Republic of China- Taiwan amounting to E3.735 million for the 2024/25 financial year for the completion of works which commenced in the last financial year.
There has been a delay in the commencement of the project due to the limited budget allocation,
which required that the Ministry and the Microprojects Programme work on a project scope reduction.
“The reduced project scope entails a reconstruction of the Mahamba-Zombodze Women in Development Centre hostel facility.
The Ministry submitted payment certificates amounting to E750,000 which had not yet been settled at the time of reporting, resulting in the contractor suspending works on site,’’ reads the report.
The Ministry has submitted Requisitions to incur Capital Expenditure amounting to E3.735million for the continuation of the project.
The Microprojects Programme are yet to submit documents for the reduced scope of the project for endorsement and concurrence by the Ministry.
Meanwhile A total of 70 community projects were monitored in 37 Tinkhundla. While 59 of these projects are performing well whilst 11 have pending issues (which are being addressed by Community Development Officers).
As of June 30, 2024, the actual expenditure for the Administration Account is E1, 933, 407.27 against an opening balance of E24, 696.41 and funds received amounting to E2, 212, 500.00 yielding an implementation rate of 86%.
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During the period under review there was training for 13 project committee members from Eswatini Organized Groups (EOGs).
Training for the EOGs was on basic bookkeeping skills, group dynamics and basic marketing skills while those on infrastructure was on general stock control.
Both groups were also trained on group dynamics and basic conflict management.
The Regional Development Fund Technical Committee’s (RDFTC) nationally did not receive projects applications during the period under review.
This was due to a backlog of applications from the last financial year 2023/24. Nationally, no projects were approved by the Regional Development Fund Committee (RDFC) during the period under review.
However, the report notes that project appraisal and approval has since resumed in all the Regions.
