Services offered by the Council and how to access them.

The following are among the core services provided by the Council to the citizens:

• Land alienation
• Formulation and enforcing by-laws
• Street lighting
• Waste management and sanitary administration
• Road construction, maintenance of road and drainages
• Funeral services through making land available for burials
• Processing title deeds and land records including facilitating other aspects of land management administration
• Providing recreation facilities and promotion of sports activities
• Registration of marriages, births and deaths including solemnizing of marriages. Facilitate maintenance of law and order
• Provision of early child development and basic education services
• Promotion of literacy programmes
• Provision of recreation amenities
• Facilitate management of the environment
• Administration of licensing requirements
• Control of domestic animals

Public service delivery by the Council is mainly delivered in the following ways:

(a) Works Department

• Roads and Drainage. The Council is responsible for construction, maintenance and management of roads and drainage infrastructure in the district. This involves planning, designing, implementing, supervision and management of roads and drainage related projects. The Council also liaises on roads and drainage related projects with other stakeholders such as Central Government, Government Agencies (i.e. Road Development Agency (RDA), Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA), National Road Fund Agency (NFRA), National Council for Construction (NCC), Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and other cooperating partner.
• (ii) Electrical, the Council is responsible for provision of the following services to the general public:

– Installation of new street lighting and maintenance of old ones
– Preparation of electrical related tender documents for installation

• Fire Services -The fire brigade, which on the average attends to over 100 incidences per month, is responsible for the following:
  – Provision of fire cover
  – Provision of rescue services
  – Ensuring building developments are carried out in accordance with Fire Regulations
  – Provision of humanitarian services during emergencies and disasters such as supply of water.
• Parks and Gardens – Mkushi Town Councils is also responsible for maintaining parks and other open spaces in terms of landscaping and also for propagation of various plants and flowers for planting in road reserves and road islands. This includes control and cutting of trees around the town.
• Building maintenance and Construction
  The Council through this department, is responsible for maintenance and renovations of various Council buildings and other infrastructure.
  
  

(b) Planning Department
The Council’s mandate in terms of service delivery under the department is to provide social services and other related services such as:

• Public health – Waste management, prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases, pest control, disposal off unclaimed bodies
• Markets & Bust Stations-The Council runs over ten (10) markets in the district.
• Community Development – Under this section Mkushi Town council provides services or programmes aimed at creating and providing a conducive and enabling environment in which individuals, groups and communities are encouraged to participate for purposes of helping them improve their standards of living such as women clubs, adult literacy, community schools, youth skills training, sports and recreation, home economics, pre-school education.
  In the area of community development, the Council provides women and youth education and development programmes biased to income generating ventures in order to empower them and reduce feminism of poverty, develop and provide training in leadership and life skills to the community in order to enhance their capacities to initiate and participate in development.
• Grass Root Participation in Development – Mkushi Town Council has 14 Ward Development Committees (WDC) which spearhead development at ward level. Some of the general functions of WDCs are:
  – To work in partnership with the Councillor in a respective ward as well as with Council staff, Donors and NGOs to promote development and to mobilize community participation.
  – To initiate and coordinate activities for the improvement of the community
  – To strengthen community capacities in the management of all development undertakings

– To provide a channel for dialogue and resource mobilization with the stakeholders

(iv)       Town Planning and Building Inspectorate – As a planning authority, the Council,                     through Planning Department promotes economic and orderly use of land in order to achieve the development of a healthy, functional and aesthetically pleasing built environment suitable for creating a conducive atmosphere for enhancing the quality of life for those who live, work and visit the town of Mkushi.
The above objective is made possible through:

• Effectively taking care of physical planning matters in the district
• (ii) Ensuring that planning permission is granted for all development   activities in the city in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act Cap 283 of the Laws of Zambia.
• (iii) Monitoring and compelling developers to undertake development as per approved development plans.
• Land Administration – Mkushi Town Council is an agent of the Central Government in Land Administration in Mkushi on behalf of the Commissioner of Lands at the Ministry of Lands. Mkushi Town Council is also a Planning Authority. Ordinarily, Mkushi Town Council would identify land and make a proposal for creation of Residential, Commercial and other uses. This process may be done by the Council depending on the nature of the land, i.e. customary land, improvement areas or state land.
  Once the creation is done, the layout plan is submitted to the Surveyor General’s office for numbering after which it is sent back to Council. The Council then advertises to the general public for applications for alienation of these pieces of land. Consequently, successful applicants are recommended to the Commissioner of Lands for offer letters. This procedure is also followed in areas which started as informal/squatter settlements such as FTC and Itala except that the Council generates offer letters instead of recommending to the Commissioner.

(c) Human Resource and Administration – The Council’s statutory function in relation to the demography of the district’s inhabitants is to register the citizens in respect of:

• Marriages, the Council maintains a register of all marriages conducted in the district by marriage ministers appointed by the institution and duly gazetted.
• Registration of Births and Deaths. The members of the public are encouraged to register births and deaths occurring within the council’s boundaries for record purposes
• Registration of Clubs, Societies, Associations, Traditional Healers
  It is a statutory requirement that all such groupings conducting their activities in the city cause their existence known to the authorities (LCC) through formal registration.
• (iv) Maintenance of Law and Order – It is the Council’s duty to ensure that civic laws are enforced in order to protect public property and maintain law and order through the Council Police Unit.
  
  

Services Provided in Collaboration with Public Institutions

(a) Policy Guidance

(b) Management of district infrastructure

(c) Co-ordination and approval of socio-economic programmes and projects

(d) Provision of water and sanitation facilities

(e) Administration of land and fire services

(f) Approval of building plans and development control

Services Provided in Collaboration with Private Sector

(a) Provision of markets

(b) Management of trading licenses

(c) Alienation of land

(d) Road construction and rehabilitation

(e) Policy Guidance