Member of Parliament for Thyolo Central constituency, Ben Phiri, has bemoaned government’s delay in implementing this year’s Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP).

Phiri said failure by the Minister of Agriculture, Lobin Lowe to give a ministerial statement on AIP in the August House indicates that government is lacking seriousness when it comes to implementation of the programme.

“We want him in the house to explain to the people on the high prices of inputs and now that the suppliers are yet to supply them because of the prices.

“And what is the government`s plan in as far as hunger is concerned because this is manmade and surely we are cooking it for next year,” said Phiri.

The Thyolo Central lawmaker said most parts of the southern region have started receiving rains and that there are no prospects that the intended beneficiaries will start accessing the inputs soon.

“Since we started parliament, the issue of minister of agriculture issuing a statement on the status of AIP has been appearing on the Order Paper but the Minister has not been coming to Parliament.

“Our problem is that the more we delay in stocking fertiliser in the markets, the more the people will fail to access it because of the status of our roads,” said Phiri.

But reacting to the concerns, government Chief Whip, Kezzie Msukwa, said the minister has not been in the chamber because he was assessing the AIP situation on the ground.

He said: “The minister of agriculture has actually been moving around assessing the situation of AIP that’s why he has not been around and we expect that he will be in the chamber on Wednesday to give the status on the ground.”