National Local Government Finance Committee has trained Lilongwe District Council staff to use a new system in the Mthandizi Public Works Project.

Speaking on Tuesday during the training, the committee’s monitoring and evaluation officer Benjamin Kayala said the Mthandizi live monitoring system being introduced in councils will help track work the beneficiaries cover and its equivalent payment.

He said the system seeks to instill a spirit of hard work in community members because previously people demanded wages on unfinished job.

He said: “Previous experience has shown that beneficiaries were after money and not the outcome of the work.

“We are not trying to punish them, but we want them to own the projects because they also benefit from the same.”

Kayala said council staff should know the system so that they do not struggle to implement it.

Lilongwe district director of Public Works Willard Chirwa said council staff should undergo the training to effectively implement the project.

“We rely on the council to convince community members to work collectively and produce the best results. This is being piloted and once it fails that will be end of the project,” he said.

Lilongwe district community development officer Annie Kamwendo said the training equipped her with skills to execute the job.

“I believe the beneficiaries will like the system because it will help get rid of those that benefitted without doing any work,” she said.

Under Mthandizi Public Works people work for 12 days in a month for two months and get K21 600.