The Ministry of Finance is not consistent in releasing the Appropriation in Aid funds to the Survey Department in Eastern Province.
This has resulted in the department having a huge backlog of plots that need to be surveyed with owners having already paid the survey fee.
Provincial Surveyor, Blessed Chula explains that the Survey Department raises revenue called Appropriation in Aid, which is deposited in the Ministry of Finance account but 50 per cent of the money is supposed to be given back to the department.
Speaking during Budget Tracking Programme this morning, Mr. Chula, however, says that Ministry of Finance has not been consistent in releasing this money, which has put the department in an awkward position because it is failing to survey plots in other districts.
Mr. Chula says that the department has only conducted about three visits to other districts under the sponsorship of local authorities in those districts, who have requested that plots be surveyed.
He revealed that in 2014, the Survey department gave the Ministry of Finance 273,872 Kwacha and was supposed to get back about 135,000 Kwacha but only 64,000 Kwacha has been released so far.
Meanwhile the Survey Department has received similar funding under the 2014 and 2015 National budgets.
Provincial Surveyor, Blessed Chula says that in 2014, the department was allocated 227,736 Kwacha while in 2015, it was allocated a same amount.
Mr. Chula says that this money goes towards general administration, payment of utility bills and surveying of plots.
He says that under the 2015 budget, about 99,000 Kwacha was allocated for general administration, 10,500 Kwacha for utilities and 117,700 Kwacha for surveying of plots.
Mr. Chula however, revealed that the department has so far only received about 79,500 Kwacha of the whole amount for general administration, utilities and surveying.
He says that the department might find itself in a similar situation like last year, where only 96,000 Kwacha was released from a budgetary allocation of 227,736 Kwacha.