{"id":18828,"date":"2022-12-24T09:53:51","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T09:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/govt-buses-are-coming"},"modified":"2022-12-24T09:53:51","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T09:53:51","slug":"govt-buses-are-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/govt-buses-are-coming","title":{"rendered":"GOVT BUSES ARE COMING"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. <\/strong><\/span>The Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini, yesterday stated that government was considering its own public transport as a long term solution if public transport operators continue with shutting down their operations.<\/b><\/p>\n

The prime minister, giving his end of year statement at Cabinet, said this would be similar to what was done in other countries.<\/p>\n

Following the public transport shutdown last week and in November, which saw businesses and other operations affected, the premier said as government, they could not force public transport operators to keep their vehicles running on the road.<\/p>\n

He said pupils had been affected by the recent shutdown and as a long term solution government considered introducing its own public vehicles.<\/p>\n

Dlamini stated that as the New Year approached, it was important to remind the nation of their collective responsibility to make the country a peaceful place to live in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should be everyone\u2019s New Year resolution to do everything in their power to protect this country from violent crime and acts of terrorism. Let us unite and rally behind the adage that says you are your brother\u2019s keeper, nawe uliphoyisa,\u201d the prime minister said.<\/p>\n

He further stated that during the year, government continued to roll out its mitigation plan to respond to emergency road failures across the country that resulted from excessive rains and Cyclone Eloise.<\/p>\n

However, while road rehabilitation had occurred in many areas, the heavy rains resulting from climate change had affected this endeavour.<\/p>\n

On a positive note though, he stated that Phase I of the Pro-base programme of 200km across the country had been completed.<\/p>\n

He further stated that His Majesty the King launched the Reconstruction Fund to compensate businesses that suffered damages to property and stock loss during the social unrest that started in June 2021 and to-date, government has disbursed approximately E174 million.<\/p>\n

Adding, he said the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund continued to provide support to young entrepreneurs and since January, it had approved 67 loan applications worth over E3.6 million and had disbursed over E2.6 million to these businesses, employing about 113 Emaswati.<\/p>\n

He said since October the fund\u2019s intake was no longer periodical, which meant applications could now be submitted throughout the year and therefore urged the youth to fully utilise this facility.<\/p>\n

Projects<\/b><\/p>\n

Dlamini went on to state that government disbursed E19.6 million through the Regional Development Fund, funding 44 projects, of which 12 were income generating and 32 infrastructure projects, with 3 249 direct beneficiaries and creating 63 jobs.<\/p>\n

On the trade hand, he said the country had strengthened bilateral trade relations with its international trade partners as this year, the country assumed chairmanship of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), automatically taking the lead in SACU trade issues, at the technical, senior officials, ministerial and Summit or Heads of State levels.<\/p>\n

As means of providing support to existing and new businesses, the premier said government offered financial support to businesses through the E45 million MSME Revolving Fund and the Informal Traders Revolving Fund, as well as recapitalised existing schemes such as the Small-Scale Enterprise Loan and Export Credit Guarantee Schemes.<\/p>\n

More than E50 million had been disbursed through the MSME Revolving Fund to date and approximately E260 000 through the Informal Traders Fund.<\/p>\n

Drugs shortage<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile drugs shortage remains a public concern, government is working around the clock to resolve the matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The premier said government continued to contribute significantly to the procurement of ARVs, ensuring that a budget was ring- fenced at a cost of E274 million per annum.<\/p>\n

This figure, according to Dlamini excludes the cost of treatment for opportunistic infections, as well as the contribution made by development partners to the programme.<\/p>\n

The ART programme has led to an uninterrupted supply of ARVs over the past five years.<\/p>\n

By the end of September 2022, the prime minister said there were 207 513 people living with HIV on ART and this was a steady increase from the 199 947 people recorded at the end of December 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut of these, 96.2 per cent were virally suppressed, showing that people are taking their medication and are responding well to treatment. Furthermore, the country has been recognised for the good work done in reducing the rates of new HIV infections from 1.36 per cent to 0.62 per cent as evidenced in the SHIMS second and third National surveys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The premier further stated that government also provided specialised health services, including chemotherapy and kidney dialysis, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt least 229 people are currently receiving haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis at the Mbabane Government Renal Unit, through the PPP with Fresenius, which government pays around E2 000 per session per patient. Two other health facilities are providing haemodialysis through the government funding and these are RFM Hospital, which currently has 32 patients.\u201d<\/p>\n

The also stressed that as the Incwala ceremony begins, Emaswati should know that the ceremony was one of the most important aspects of the Eswatini culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what makes Eswatini the unique nation that it is. His Majesty\u2019s Government, therefore, encourages all Emaswati and our international friends and visitors to continue to attend the Incwala ceremony as has been the case in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Eswatini<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini, yesterday stated that government was considering its own public transport as a long term solution if public transport operators continue with shutting down their operations. The prime minister, giving his end of year statement at Cabinet, said this would be similar to what was done in other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":18827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[234,248,249],"class_list":["post-18828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-eswatini","tag-eswatini"],"yoast_head":"\nGOVT BUSES ARE COMING - Eswatini<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/eswatini\/all-news\/govt-buses-are-coming\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOVT BUSES ARE COMING\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Eswatini. The Prime Minister, Cleopas Dlamini, yesterday stated that government was considering its own public transport as a long term solution if public transport operators continue with shutting down their operations. 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